


Must Have Been The Wind

by UniqueMemoria



Category: South Park
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alcohol, Angst, Bullying, Childhood Friends, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn, Will Add Tags As We Go, character death later, its just kenny dont worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 83,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25685707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UniqueMemoria/pseuds/UniqueMemoria
Summary: “Leo?”Butters felt his body tense and immediately stopped in place, tightening his grip on his phone. There was only one person who would ever use his real name like that. He turned around to face the voice, his stomach suddenly tied up with more knots than he could count, and all the heat in his body rushed to his face, leaving him almost shivering. But he couldn’t be bothered to care about that right now. “Kenny??” Butters questioned quietly in disbelief at the sight in front of him.
Relationships: Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak, Kenny McCormick/Leopold "Butters" Stotch, Kyle Broflovski/Stan Marsh
Comments: 159
Kudos: 213





	1. A Fated Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> Heyoo I haven't written anything in a long while but I have got back into South Park SUPER hard so I need to get this out of my system lol  
> I have a lot of ideas for this and I'm really excited to write more!!
> 
> This fic is loosely inspired by the song Must Have Been The Wind by Alec Benjamin! (Or at least, that was what initially inspired me to start this fic!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some of these first chapters r kinda short but the more eventful/later ones are longer! owo;

South Park almost seemed to not really change no matter how much time went by. Sure, it wasn’t entirely the same as it had been when they were all kids. But, other than expanding a small amount due to more job opportunities popping up, it still had the same energy it always did. As if it was still a small town. It was pretty easy to argue it was no longer small, however. A couple stores, restaurants and other businesses later, South Park had to add an apartment complex along with more housing to keep up with the demand of the citizens working there.   
  
Butters had only been back in South Park for roughly 7 months after leaving for college 4 years prior. Arguably the minute he had turned 18, his parents were already sending him off to California for a university of their choosing. He didn’t really mind, however, since in the end it got him away from them anyway. Now he was grown up, graduated with a degree he is never going to use, and ready to live on his own.  
  
And yet, he found himself coming back to South Park regardless, his attachment to this little town he grew up in far too strong for him to imagine living anywhere else. Luckily for him, a lot of the kids he grew up with had the same idea. Even luckier still, his best friend still lived there too.  
  
It was still uncertain to Butters if he was feeling surprised or not that Tweek Bros. Coffee was somehow still standing after all this time, and on the same coin, Tweek was still working there. In fact, Tweek was the owner of the shop now. Ever since his parents were arrested for putting ground up meth in their coffee, Tweek took ownership of the shop. Minus the meth.  
  
The fact Tweek was still here made it pretty easy for Butters to know Craig was still living in South Park as well. That is, if he and Tweek hadn’t already been talking while he was in college anyway.  
  
Tweek and Butters had become pretty close while growing up over the years, often confiding in each other for basically everything. However, Tweek always had Craig to be there for him when he needed it, so it was more often than not simply Butters coming to Tweek. Regardless, the two have talked every day since they were kids, and since Butters’ return to South Park, he often visited the coffee shop when he wasn’t at work to keep Tweek company.   
  
Or was it just to give himself company?  
  
After all, Craig worked at the same coffee shop, which would give Tweek all the company he needs, right? Butters hated to think about how lonely he often was, even now. It was hard to deny how much he felt like a third wheel when he hung out with Tweek, even with Tweek being his closest friend.   
  
Butters wasn’t entirely sure what the rest of the boys were up to. He knew that Kyle and Stan were living together somewhere in South Park, as he’d run into them a couple times since he’d gotten back. They seemed to all graduate around the same time, although Kyle said he wasn’t entirely finished with school yet, which was unsurprising to Butters. From what he could tell Eric was nowhere to be seen, thankfully. He kinda hoped it would stay that way... and then there was Kenny.  
  
Kenny was someone who he would definitely consider a friend, but when Butters had to leave for college he had lost contact with him. They weren’t very close until high school, when Stan and Kyle had started dating. Something about that seemed to rock their group dynamic and Kenny began to hang around Butters more often during that time.

Butters found himself missing Kenny more often than he could ever admit.. to anyone that wasn’t Tweek, that is. Kenny was always the nicest to him compared to the rest of the kids growing up, and Butters couldn’t deny the weird feelings he used to get in his gut when he was around him. 

He had no idea where Kenny was. Was he even still in South Park? The McCormick’s old house was demolished years ago to be replaced with new housing, after all. Every attempt Butters has made to try texting Kenny’s old number was always met with nothing in response. Butters’ was beginning to wonder if Kenny changed his number at some point or if he just didn’t want anything to do with him now that school was done. 

Butters really hoped it wasn’t the second option. 

When Butters wasn’t so busy thinking about how lonely he was, he was usually either asleep or at work. He got a quaint job at one of the many new restaurants added to South Park as a dishwasher. It wasn’t the fanciest job but it paid the bills and that’s all he could ask for. He had managed to get himself a second floor apartment that was barely a block away from the aforementioned restaurant, so he could just walk. Not to mention, Tweek Bros. Coffee was within walking distance as well.

Butters had just got off another long shift of washing dishes all day, only making a small trip to his apartment to change and shower before heading right back out and towards that old coffee shop. 

_Ring-Ding_

The small bell above the door chimed as Butters pushed it open, prompting the blonde haired man behind the counter to look up quickly.  
  
“Welcome to Tweek Bros. What can I- _Gh_! -Oh! Hey Butters.” Tweek gave him a smile, letting himself quickly relax. 

“Hey Tweek, slow day?” Butters asked cautiously as he stepped towards the counter, taking Tweek’s shocked reaction to the bell ringing that he hadn’t had a customer in a while. Giving the small shop a quick glance told him Craig wasn’t here either, unless he was in the back and just didn’t bother coming out.

“Ah, yeah, I’ve only had a few customers today. I’ve been sooo bored.” Tweek groaned a little before giving a small chuckle right after. “Did you just get off?”  
  
Butters nodded, “Yep! Many dirty dishes met their fate with these hands today.” He raised his hands up as he spoke, a grin on his face. “Well, these hands, but covered with gloves, that is.” He decided to add.  
  
This made Tweek laugh a little again, “Oh, I believe it. Sounds like more fun than standing here for hours.” Tweek spoke calmly. The blonde had made a lot of progress on recovering from the consequences of how his parents had raised him on that laced coffee. But a lot of therapy and medication helped a lot, it seemed. He still had his moments, but Butters was always very proud of his friend and how far he’d come already. 

“Is Craig here?” Butters couldn’t help but ask, becoming genuinely curious.  
  
“No, he’s off today. He’s at home getting some well needed sleep. So, it’s just been me here today.”  
  
“Oh, well good for him!” Butters commented happily, hoping it didn’t appear obvious he was happy to know he had his friend to himself, as selfish as that seemed. “Gee, I can’t wait to get some sleep, I’m exhausted. But I can stick around for a while before I head home just yet.” 

“Well, don’t stay too late then, but I’m not going anywhere.”

The pair chatted about everything and nothing at all for a good hour or so, only a single customer coming in during that time. 

-

“It’s about to be March, isn’t it?” Butters suddenly observed from the table he was sat at after a brief moment of silence between the two of them. He heard Tweek only hum in agreement from where he was busy cleaning one of the machines and Butters found himself pulling his phone out as if to double check the date. 

Soon enough he found his fingers tapping away to his messages, scrolling through them until he found who he was looking for. March… It was almost Kenny’s birthday. He hesitated before going to start typing, only to flinch and stop when a voice stopped him.  
  
“Are you trying to text Kenny again?” Tweek questioned, smart enough to put two and two together and figure out why Butters asked about March in the first place. 

Butters held his phone against his chest as he looked up at him, trying to hide the screen from view. “Well-” He hesitated, feeling heat rush to his face out of embarrassment. “-Maybe. It’s almost his birthday again. I just wanna be able to tell him happy birthday, that’s all.” Butters tried to explain, before looking back down to his phone again, hovering his fingers over the keyboard. “Even if he doesn’t answer, maybe he’s actually getting the messages.”  
  
Tweek watched him, giving him a look that was probably pity and sighed, “If he’s never responded over the past 4 years you’ve been trying though, isn’t it like you’re just talking to a brick wall?”  
  
Butters frowned as he stared down at the bright screen and listened to Tweek’s reasoning. He reluctantly locked his phone and put it back into his pocket with a sigh, looking back up towards Tweek again. “I wish I knew where he was.” He quietly admitted.

“I know you do. I’m sorry, Butters, but you know none of us have seen him since we graduated.” Tweek cautiously reminded him.

Butters could only nod, still frowning. “Ya, I know.”  
  
-  
  


Butters didn’t stay at the coffee shop much longer, his exhaustion beginning to catch up with him. With one glance to his phone as he stepped out into the snow, he saw it was almost 10pm. Yeah, definitely time to go to bed. 

He shoved the phone back into his pocket, making sure to put his hands in his pockets as well. It was extra cold nights like tonight that he wished he would just drive places, but walking was often more convenient. It was also just nice to walk in South Park, especially at night. 

He recalled when he used to sneak out at night to play games with the other boys, with not a single care in the world. He always finds himself missing that. Being a kid was so much simpler. Or maybe it was the other way around.. Being a kid was so much more interesting. Being an adult was too simple, he could say. Too.. boring. Painful? Tiring. 

Butters let out a soft sigh, watching his breath fog in front of him then looking down to watch as he dragged his feet through the snowy sidewalk. He couldn’t help but think about what Tweek had told him about talking to a wall. But, he also found he couldn’t bring himself to care. Even if Kenny _was_ getting his messages, the least he wants is to think he is reading them. But, maybe Tweek was right. He’s basically clinging onto nothing at this point. 

Nearing his apartment, Butters as usual found himself pulling his phone out again, ignoring how cold his hand immediately felt in the open air. He unlocked it with one hand and watched as it opened to the message screen it was left on, with an unfinished message that simply said ‘Hey’.

As Butters continued to walk, he tried to think of something to type, not noticing when he passed by someone as he came up to his apartment complex. He was only pulled from his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice speak up behind him.  
  
“Leo?”  
  
Butters felt his body tense and immediately stopped in place, tightening his grip on his phone. There was only one person who would ever use his real name like that. He turned around to face the voice, his stomach suddenly tied up with more knots than he could count, and all the heat in his body rushed to his face, leaving him almost shivering. But he couldn’t be bothered to care about that right now. “Kenny??” Butters questioned quietly in disbelief at the sight in front of him.  
  
The blonde in front of him shot him a large grin paired with a chuckle as he nodded. “In the flesh. Hey, Buttercup.. it’s been a while?” He spoke cautiously, obviously unsure what their standing was after so many years of not talking. 

Butters wasn’t sure what to say, and was worried this was yet another dream he would wake up from within minutes. But, the pain he was feeling on his hand from the cold was telling him otherwise. His body seemed to move on it’s own, quickly stepping closer to him so he could give him a hug, a large smile making its way to his face. 

“It really is you, Ken!!” Butters spoke excitedly, quickly stepping back after a short second. “What are you doing here? Where have you been?” He found himself quickly asking, just wanting to know where the hell he was this whole time.  
  
“I just got back.” Kenny gave another chuckle, raising a hand to softly pat Butters head as if it’ll calm down his excitement. “When my family’s house got torn down we had to leave, but you were already gone by that point. Did you change your number?” He suddenly asked, raising a brow.  
  
This made Butters tilt his head, “Well, when I moved to California, yeah. But, I texted you!”  
  
“Oh, I guess we both changed our numbers then, huh?” Kenny concluded then, almost laughing at how sad this situation seemed. Would they have been talking this whole time if only they had each other’s new numbers? “Well, I am here now. So gimme.” He said, pointing to the phone still in Butters’ freezing hand. 

Butters blinked and glanced down to the phone in his hand, the feeling in his stomach still making him almost feel nauseous right then. But he quickly and wordlessly opened up Kenny’s contact settings so he could change the number, handing his phone over to Kenny. “So you… live here again now?” Butters felt like he needed more assurance still.  
  
Kenny hummed as he entered his new number, nodding. “Sure am! I’d imagine probably until I die.” He laughed, almost to himself, before handing the phone back over and already reaching for his own.  
  
Butters quickly put his number into Kenny’s phone when it was given to him, handing it back over and looking up at him again. “Well, I sure am really glad you are back, Ken. I missed ya a lot.” He confessed softly, keeping the smile on his face.  
  
“I missed you too, Buttercup. I’m sure we have a lot of catching up to do, eh?” Kenny grinned back at him and pushed his hands into his parka’s pockets. “Well, I was heading to work so I should get going. I’ll see you around?” He asked as he already began to turn to leave.

“Of course! I’ll be sure to text you.” Butters quickly promised, giving him a small wave as he finally turned and started walking. He wouldn’t admit how long he probably watched him walk right then, but how cold he was feeling finally caught up with him and he was quickly heading into his apartment like he had planned, already eager to start texting him again. For real this time. 


	2. Catching Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I spent all day on this chapter but I'm pretty happy with it! I have so many ideas gathered up for this fic already, I hope you guys are ready >:3c

It had been a few days since Butters had run into Kenny that cold night, and he still wasn’t sure if he was just stuck in a REALLY long dream, or if this was actually real life. Every chance Butters had to look at his phone would result in him texting Kenny again, always overly pleased when he got responses.

Oh, how much he had hoped for this. He had been starting to wonder if he really wasn’t going to see Kenny again, but his prayers were answered. Despite the pair texting every day, their schedules were rather opposite, resulting in the two only able to text a couple times a day. Kenny worked as a shelf stocker at one of the small grocery stores in town, so he tended to only work overnight, and sleep during the morning. Although Kenny could text on the job, it was always when Butters had to sleep.

Butters often worked in the afternoon, which was unfortunately the only time Kenny was awake and not working. Butters couldn’t lie and say it wasn’t just a little frustrating. He finally got his friend back, but being an adult makes it all so complicated and hard compared to how it was when they were still in school.

Every time Butters heard his phone go off he felt that feeling bubble up in his stomach again, unable to help but smile when he read over their few texts. Butters suggested that they find a time to meet up, maybe for lunch or something. Not like a date or anything.. Just so they could catch up? Yep. That’s all it was.

Finishing up yet another shift, Butters headed straight to Tweek Bros. in some excitement. He surprisingly still hadn’t told Tweek about what happened. Maybe because he was still trying to come to terms that what was happening is real. But, now that he and Kenny had plans made, he felt he could speak up now. And oh, how he needed to.

_Ring-Ding_

The usual bell chimed as Butters quickly entered the building. He had a large grin already on his face when he made eye contact with Tweek, who was behind the counter and seemingly working alone again. “Tweek! You’ll never believe this.” 

“ _Gah!!_ \- What??” Tweek questioned, at first a bit startled by the sudden entrance, unsure what would have Butters so excited.

Butters didn’t say anything at first, pulling out his phone and opening it up to him and Kenny’s messages. Without a word, he stepped over to the counter and turned the phone towards Tweek, the large grin never leaving his face.

Tweek blinked a few times as he looked over the screen, shock quickly showing on his face in realization. “Kenny texted you back??”

“Kenny _is_ _back._ ” Butters corrected him, unable to stifle an excited giggle as he put his phone back into his pocket. “I ran into him after I left here the other night. It turns out we both changed our numbers, but he is in South Park again!” He basically repeated himself at this point.

“Well, that’s great, Butters! How has he been doing?”

“Uh- good, I think?” Butters flushed a little in embarrassment. “We’ve only chatted a bit here and there but from what I can tell he’s doing fine. I am off work tomorrow so we were going to meet up for lunch..” He trailed off as he glanced down to his hands, his cheeks still feeling warm.

“Ooooh… okay.” Tweek teased with a small snicker. “Well, tell him I said hi, I guess. Maybe we could all meet up together later on. I’m sure Craig would like to see him.”

“Craig?” Butters questioned, only to then remember that Kenny and Craig did have somewhat of a friendship when they were in school, so he continued, “Well, that sounds fine to me! I’ll try to bring it up when I see him tomorrow.” He promised, smiling brightly still. 

“Can you please not assume who I want to waste my time with, _Honey?”_ A sudden nasally voice spoke up from the door to the backroom. Apparently Craig _was_ there that day. The man gave a sigh as he stepped over to stand by Tweek, instinctively reaching for one of the blonde’s hands casually. “I guess I do want to see him. He’s an asshole, though.”

Butters couldn’t help but glance down towards their clasped hands while he listened, a different kind of feeling bubbling inside him this time. He tried to shake it off however, glancing back up to them again with another smile. “Well, he doesn’t try to be! I- I think.” He double guessed his own statement. Well, Kenny wasn’t an asshole to him at least, Butters thought.

“Whatever you say.” Craig replied bluntly, before quickly turning his attention to Tweek instead. “Sorry I was back there for so long. I heard you yell a minute ago, are you okay?” His voice seemed to hold a kind of softness it didn’t usually have. Butters noticed how much Craig’s aura seemed to change every time he talked to Tweek.

“I’m fine, Craig. Butters just startled me a little..” Tweek assured him quietly, sending Craig a soft smile. The blonde’s cheeks flushed a little as Craig leaned down a little to press a small kiss to his cheek.

“Only if you’re sure.” Craig spoke gently, keeping a soft hold on Tweek’s hand for a few more moments before letting go so he could check on the various coffee machines around them.

Tweek took this moment to continue his conversation with Butters, being the next to speak up, “Yeah, so, just text me if you two figure out a day we could all hang out. I’m sure we could close the shop for a bit if need be.” He offered, a soft smile still on his face while he spoke.

Butters nodded, returning the smile with a wide grin. “I’ll be sure to! I’m sure it’ll be a lot of fun…” Butters trailed off again, reaching into his pocket to grab his phone when he felt it buzz against his leg. He read over the text message he had got, his expression quickly softening when he noticed it was from Kenny. Such a small simple text, but Kenny talking to him at all seemed to fill Butters with so many feelings he thought he had forgotten. Or, that he tried to forget, that is. He began to type out a quick reply.

_**Ken <3:** work is so boringggg and I only jus got here _

_At least you can play on your phone while you work, though. lol_

“Is that Kenny?” Tweek’s voice suddenly pulled Butters back into reality, reminding him he was still standing in the middle of the coffee shop and _not_ actually hanging out with Kenny. He hadn’t noticed how hot his face was feeling until right then, which only worsened in his minor embarrassment.

“Well, Yeah. He just got to work and he tends to text me something when he gets there..”

“He goes to work this late?” Tweek tilted his head in question, overnight jobs initially not coming to his mind. 

“Yep. He works overnight stocking shelves.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense.. Kenny likes being awake at night, doesn’t he? I guess it’s perfect for him.”

Butters gave out a soft sigh. “I guess so, but the only time he’s free is when I’m working or sleeping.. I wish we could just be free every day.”

“Work sucks.” Craig spoke up suddenly, having been just quietly scrolling through his phone from where he was stood by Tweek. He sighs. “But we do have to work to survive, I guess.”

Tweek glanced towards him, nodding a little. “Yeah, otherwise we wouldn’t be here every day, huh? Although even if we were home we probably wouldn’t do much different..”

Butters listened on to their little chat, thinking about how nice it probably was to run a small business with your partner like they did. Despite how many hours they had to work, they got to spend a lot of it together still. Butters couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of them sometimes. 

He felt his phone buzz in his hand, turning his attention back down to it once again.

_**Ken <3: **doesnt help time go much faster tho ): _

Butters smiled in amusement at the message, quickly responding,

 _‘$$$$$’,_ was all he sent in reply however, almost snickering to himself. Only then did he put his phone away again, stretching his arms above his head for a moment before sighing and looking to the two behind the counter once more.

“Alright, I think I’m gonna head home for the night. Have fun, you two.” Butters said with a small wave of his hand as he moved for the exit.

When Butters arrived at his apartment, he had debated staying up later than usual just to text Kenny that night, but knowing they were going to see each other the next day anyway.. He went against it. He only texted Kenny goodnight before heading to bed. 

-

As soon as he had woken up, Butters felt way more nervous than he had the night before. As if it was suddenly setting in that he was about to hang out with Kenny for the first time in years. They had run into each other momentarily, but that wasn’t exactly the same as going out for lunch together, right?

Butters made sure to do basically everything he could do to get ready. Shower, brush his teeth, fix his hair.. Hell, he even put on a tiny amount of some floral cologne he hadn’t ever touched. Where did he even get this, again? Oh well, didn’t matter.

Although he went a bit overboard on the hygiene, he did his best to stay casual with his clothing. A simple blue button up shirt and some black khakis were enough for him. It was just lunch, after all.

And it _wasn’t_ a date.

It was nearing the time they had agreed on meeting, and Butters was double checking himself in the mirror, making sure nothing was out of place. He couldn’t help but look at the scar that went over his left eye. He sometimes felt a little self conscious about it… but at the same time it almost held some kind of silly attachment to him. It was an accident on Kenny’s part, and it felt like some form of bond to him.

Maybe that’s only because he’s hopelessly in love, though.

Butters heard his phone go off from his bedroom, and he quickly stepped back in to grab it, immediately turning it so he could see who it was.

Unsurprisingly, it was Kenny.

_**Ken <3: **almost ready? ill meet ya there _

_I’ll be there soon! :)_

Butters locked his phone and took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing thoughts. He was so nervous. He didn’t even know what he’d talk about. After all, not much happened while he was in California. He didn’t make any friends there or ever went out much. He didn’t want to be awkward...

He tried to push through all the feelings rumbling through his body, and with only a last glance in his mirror, he grabbed his things and headed out.

Butters decided to take his car this once as the place they agreed to was a bit of a walk away. Parking sometimes was a pain to get in South Park, so he usually preferred just walking, but even that had limits, unfortunately. 

It wasn’t long at all until he pulled up to the fast food joint they agreed upon. Nothing fancy. Besides, it wasn’t too out of pocket. It was just a friendly bite to eat, after all.

Thankfully for Butters, it wasn’t too hard to find a parking spot here, and he was soon heading inside the small building. The distinct smell of the fast food frying from the kitchen filled him with a sense of nostalgia, as well as hunger. The place wasn’t too big, and it only took a quick glance around the place to find Kenny, who was holding a hand up in greeting from a booth when their eyes met. 

Kenny still wore the orange parka Butters had seen him wearing the other night, but with his hood down this time, as well as some brown jeans that seemed to be a little torn at his knees. 

Butters happily walked over to him, wanting to go in for a hug but hesitating, not wanting to be awkward due to Kenny still being sat at the table. So, he opted to sit down across from him instead. “Hiya, Ken! Hope you weren’t waiting too long.

“Nah, I barely just got here. No worries.” Kenny assured him with a big grin, that action alone making Butters feel those familiar knots in his stomach. Eugh, that feeling mixing with the feeling of hunger he already had made him want to puke. 

He hadn’t realized how dark it was that night they bumped into each other, but now he could see Kenny in full light for the first time since high school. He hoped it wouldn’t become obvious how he was staring… Taking in every little detail he thought he had already memorized before. 

The subtle freckles over his cheeks… The beautiful blue color in his eyes… The hair that seemed to always be such a perfect mess… That bright smile of his…

“So... did you wanna grab some food, Buttercup?” Kenny’s voice suddenly woke Butters up from his daydreaming and he tried to control the blush daring to come over his cheeks right then. How long had he been sitting there just staring?? 

“Uh, yeah! I am pretty hungry.” Butters tried to reply normally, unaware that Kenny had been staring at him as well.

The pair got up from the table and over to the counter, ordering their meals separately. They both filled up their drinks and then seated themselves back at the same table to wait for their meal. 

Butters quickly made the decision to be the first one to speak up, just so he didn’t have to think of interesting responses to say first. “So, what’s your opinion on how South Park has changed while we were gone? Does it feel very different to you?” He felt genuinely curious. “It feels like it’s exactly the same, but just bigger, to me.”

Kenny chuckled a little at that, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t say it feels the same…” He seemed to trail off in thought for a short moment, before continuing, “Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe I’ve just grown too old to see it the same now.”

Butters couldn’t help but tilt his head a little at this. Growing up was always such a hard concept for him to accept. Being an adult felt like having to toss away all the things you grew up loving, and trying to fit to this mold that the ‘ideal adult’ was. But… even knowing that, he felt confused. 

“What do you mean?” Butters found himself asking.

“Hm?” Kenny appeared to think for another second, “Well.. I think it being so small was what made South Park.. uh.. South Park, ya know? You said you got here 7 months ago, right? And you only seen Kyle and Stan maybe 3 times so far?”

Butters was beginning to understand what he was trying to say now, giving a hesitant nod.

“When we were kids, we could run into each other every day.” Kenny continued on, “But, it’s just too big for that now. Everyone doesn’t just know each other here anymore.”

Butters couldn’t help but frown a little at that, only to soon replace it with a smile as he spoke up now, “Well, you’ve only been back for barely a week now, Ken. Maybe you just gotta see for yourself that it really is not too different now.”

Kenny raised a brow at him, a grin coming over his face pretty quickly. He had opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when their tray of food was brought to their table.

Butters kindly thanked the employee before turning back to the food again, feeling his stomach rumble now that the food was in front of him. He quickly grabbed his food off the tray, consisting of just a burger and some fries, and began to munch on some of the fries. 

“Were you offering to show me how South Park is still the same?” Kenny suddenly continued the conversation from where they left off, the grin still on his face.

Heat quickly rushed over Butters’ face, unable to completely hide it this time. Well, that wasn’t necessarily what he was trying to do… but… “Uh, Y-Yeah! I mean, if you want to that is. We could… meet up on my days off or something, maybe?” He awkwardly suggested, deciding to just go along with it. Why wouldn’t he want to do that with Kenny, anyway?

Kenny let out a hum of amusement while he took a bite out of his own burger, giving him a nod right after.

“Sounds good to me. I guess we’ll see exactly what you mean, huh?” Kenny said with somewhat of a smirk in Butters’ direction. 

Butters was honestly surprised he was keeping his meal down when his stomach felt as weird as it did. He took a quick sip of his soda in an attempt to swallow down his nerves. He chose to continue the conversation further, “Oh, Ken? Where were you these past 4 years? You said you left but… were you at school?”

Kenny almost laughed at that, shaking his head as he explained, “Well, for a year I was. But, nah, I just had to go wherever my family was. I wasn’t gonna leave Karen alone with my parents. I only came back now because Karen left for college. Don’t wanna be with my parents so this is really the only place I could think of to come to.“

“Me too.” Butters found himself saying, fully understanding exactly what he meant. After all, wasn’t that the only reason he had come back too? His own parents still lived in South Park, but he’d yet to run into them so far. He was hoping it’d stay that way, since they thought he was still in California right now. 

“What about you, Leo? What was it like in California?” Kenny was the one to ask a question this time.

The one question he was dreading to be asked. He didn’t have much to say! Nothing really happened.

“Hot.” Ended up being the only thing to come out of Butters’ mouth initially. This made Kenny actually laugh this time, and Butters couldn’t help but laugh a little as well. “I actually started to miss the snow while I was there.”

“Oh god, really?”

“Yeah. I would step outside and felt like I was just melting.” 

The two shared a couple more laughs as they finished up their meal, and thankfully Butters seemed to have dodged explaining how his time away had been any further. They chatted together for another hour about nothing really important. They had started getting ready to leave when Butters suddenly gasped, as if remembering something.

“Oh, Ken! I almost forgot, would you wanna maybe hang out with Tweek, Craig, and I sometime? Tweek suggested it.” Butters quickly asked as he dumped their tray of trash away, glancing in his direction.

Kenny smiled at that, giving a shrug. “Yeah, I don’t see why not. Maybe you can add that to the list of things that makes South Park the same as before, eh?” He raised a hand to lightly pat Butters’ hair.

The heat returned to Butters’ face again, and he could only respond with a nod, watching Kenny then start heading for the exit.

“See ya later, Buttercup.” Kenny said with a wave, before stepping out of the building.

Butters watched him go, finally allowing himself to breathe. How long has he been holding his breath? Oh well.

Guess it was time to think of how to prove his point to Kenny… While also struggling with his feelings for him at the same time. This was gonna be fun.


	3. Small Get Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw // alcohol use in this chapter!

_“So, Sunday is good for us then?”_ Tweeks voice asked through Butters’ phone, prompting the blonde to nod, only to then remember that it didn't work for phone calls.

“Yeah! We can just do that, then.” Butters quickly replied instead, “We’ll be there around seven if that works for you two?”

_“Yep, that’s fine! We’ll be ready.”_

“Well, I’ll see you then! Bye Tweek.” Butters locked his phone once their phone call was over, giving a soft sigh and falling back into his pillows. Maybe hanging out in a group would make it less suffocating to be around Kenny. Or maybe it’d just make it worse, he wasn’t sure yet.

Butters desperately wished he had more days he was free. He couldn’t help but spend the whole week looking forward to his next day off, his work shifts feeling awfully longer than usual already. It had still only been a couple days since his lunch with Kenny, but after some discussion, he and Tweek had decided to have their meet up with Kenny that same week. Nothing too crazy, just the four of them with some drinks at Tweek and Craig’s house. Butters was positive it’d be really fun… He hadn’t done anything of the sort in quite a while. 

Naturally, the only good choice was a day they were all off. For Tweek and Craig, that was pretty easy, since they could just close the store whenever they needed to. Butters thankfully tended to have the same day off every week, Sunday, and sometimes Monday too. Kenny, however, had simply said he would just call out if he needed to, which he did.

There was still two days left until Sunday, and Butters felt so much excitement already. He’d get to hang out with all his closest friends at the same time… It was like being transported back to their school days again. 

Butters gave a small hum of thought to himself, before opening his phone up again. Scrolling through his messages, he quickly found Kenny and began to type out a message,

_Hey, what kind of alcohol do you want when we are at Tweek’s?_

_**Ken <3: **all of it :) _

Butters snickered a little when he read the message, replying instantly,

_Ok, Well I don’t think that’s possible._

_**Ken <3: **you don think so? cant go rob the bank of alcohol for me? _

Unable to contain himself, Butters laughed a little louder at that, his cheeks quickly heating up while he did. Thank god these were just texts.

_No, I don’t think that exists. Try again._

_**Ken <3: **); alright how bout just some vodka then? _

_You got it. Goodnight, Ken. :)_

_**Ken <3: **night buttercup _

Butters read over their texts a couple times, as if still in disbelief they were talking again. He pressed his phone against his chest with a wide smile stuck on his face. He then quickly raised his hands to cover his warm face, a feeling coursing through him right then that could only be described as electricity, but in a good way, causing a giggle to bubble out of his throat. 

Why did Kenny make him feel like this?

-

Sunday had finally arrived. Butters had made sure to text Kenny to give him Tweek’s address, and he counted down the hours to seven. He got ready similarly to when he and Kenny had lunch, though he purposefully picked out one of his nicer button ups this time, opting for a pastel yellow shirt with some nice black khakis. He decided to put on a bit of that cologne again as well, just out of caution. 

Once Butters deemed himself ready, he sent a quick text to Tweek to let him know he was on his way, grabbed his things, and left. It was a short drive to Tweek and Craig’s house, and as he pulled up he noted the sight of a slightly beat up truck. Was that Kenny’s? He thought he remembered seeing it at the restaurant as well. Butters pulled up and parked behind it, exiting his car and walking up to the familiar house.

Even now, the houses in South Park seemed to all have relatively the same layout, so this house was no different. It almost made him glad he lived in an apartment instead, just for some change of scenery at this point. 

Butters gave a small knock at the door, smiling brightly when the door was opened shortly after, Tweek there to greet him.

“Butters!! Hey man, come in. Kenny got here a few minutes ago.” Tweek took a step back to let him inside, giving him a friendly smile. Craig and Kenny were both sitting on one of the two couches behind the blonde, although Craig only silently raised a hand in greeting. 

Kenny shot Butters a quick salute with two of his fingers and a grin, “Hey, Leo.”

The couple seemed to make the most of their home, and it was hard to deny how homey it really was. Various potted flowers were usually randomly across the house, and Butters always wondered how they managed to keep them so well taken care of when they worked so often. Maybe he was just overthinking that, though. They had many pictures of the two of them on some of the walls, and everything about the house felt so cozy. 

Butters plan of being in a group to help control his feelings didn’t seem to play out, because he was already feeling the electricity fire inside him again. He did his best to ignore it, stepping inside and giving the group a big smile, “Hey guys, what’s going on?”

Stepping into the living room, he took a seat at the empty couch. Tweek locked the front door and then quickly came back to the group shortly after, taking a seat next to Butters, though the position of the couch kept him close to Craig as well.

“Not much yet, just been catching up a little.” Kenny spoke up first, playfully wrapping an arm around Craig’s shoulders right after, “This guy seemed to miss me sooo much.”

Craig groaned in annoyance, quickly pushing Kenny off of him. “Get off of me, dude.” He sighed, scooting closer towards Tweek, “I didn’t miss you _that_ much. But, it is good to see you again, dick.”

Kenny gave a feign look of hurt, pouting as he placed a hand on his chest. “Well, that’s not what you said before. Come on, it’s just Butters!”

Butters tensed a little when he heard Kenny say his name, unsure why it made him react like that. Or maybe he was lying, he knew exactly why. He let out a small chuckle however, watching the familiar behavior play out in front of him. It seemed things really didn’t change much.

Kenny pushed himself to his feet when Craig only rolled his eyes in response, prompting Kenny to turn to what he was arguably most excited about anyway. He clasped his hands together as he glanced between the three of them. “So… Drinks?”

“Oh!!” Tweek suddenly said, also standing up. “I had almost forgotten about that part.” He then wordlessly headed for the kitchen, Craig also choosing to get up and follow after him. 

Kenny was about to follow after as well, but hesitated, turning to Butters first, “You drinkin’?”

“Ah- oh, uh, yeah, I think I will.” Butters smiled awkwardly, pushing himself up from the couch and following after him into the kitchen. Tweek had begun rummaging through one of the cabinets and pulled out a couple different bottles. 

“Pick your poison.” Craig bluntly announced, already reaching for an already half-empty bottle of rum after he placed a couple cups on the counter. “There’s some sodas in the fridge if you wanna mix a drink, too.”

Kenny quickly snatched the bottle of vodka he had spotted, grinning as he blindly poured some of it into his cup. “Tempting, but I think this’ll be fine.” He said confidently before taking a large sip from the cup with ease.

Butters knocked his fists together a bit nervously, trying to decide on what exactly he wanted to drink. He didn’t drink very often, definitely not enough to even know where he should start. Kenny must have noticed this, because he suddenly stepped closer to Butters, leaning down a bit. 

“If you ask me, I’d say rum is always a pretty easy start. It goes great with soda.” He gave Butters an assuring smile, handing him the empty cup that was left for him.

Butters swore his heart was going twice as fast when Kenny had come so close to him, refusing to let his nerves become obvious, however, he took the cup from him and nodded. “Thanks, Ken.” Butters smiled, trying to keep himself composed normally. He took the bottle from Craig when he was finished with it, hesitating for a moment when he went to pour it into his cup. How much was he supposed to pour again?

He felt some anxiety get the best of him, and he decided to just pour a small amount in, trying to aim for what he thought was a single shot. Maybe he should have just measured it? Well, it was too late now.

Craig and Tweek seemed to have already left for the living room again, though Butters hadn’t noticed until he went to get a soda from the fridge. He was unaware that Kenny had been watching him the whole time after the other two had left the room, as if prepared to help him out again if he needed to.

After Butters finished mixing his drink, he took a small sip from it, unable to help but scrunch his face up just a little bit. “It’s still always so weird.” He laughed a little, looking at Kenny again.

“Yeah? I guess it is pretty weird.” Kenny agreed with him, even while he drank the vodka like it was no problem. “Gotta drink something weird to make ya feel weird, ya know?”

Butters nodded a little, supposing he was right about that. He kept the smile on his face, taking another small sip of his drink before speaking, “Do you wanna head back now?”

“Wait a sec.” Kenny muttered, reaching for the vodka bottle again and pouring a little bit more into his cup. Only then did he nod, beginning to head towards the living room again. “Alright, let’s go, Buttercup.”  
Butters got that same feeling in his stomach every time Kenny would call him by that nickname. He was the only one who ever called him that, and it was almost too much for him every time.

As the two made it back into the living room, it was revealed that Craig and Tweek had taken one of the couches, leaving only the second couch open. Of course, that shouldn’t be surprising, but it just hadn’t occurred to Butters beforehand.

Kenny plopped himself onto the open couch, careful to not spill his drink in the process. Butters’ cup was much more full than Kenny’s was, so he sat down a bit more carefully next to him and took another sip.

Tweek seemed to be the only one not drinking, although that made sense. Butters was aware he wasn’t supposed to drink with his meds, after all. The four of them quickly caught up with each other, and it seemed not a ton has happened for each of them over the four years. Being grown really _was_ pretty boring, after all.

Regardless, they shared a lot of laughs, especially when the alcohol began to kick into their systems. Tweek seemed to find a lot of amusement in this, listening as Craig and Kenny got into a lighthearted argument over what type of pet was the best. Butters wasn’t even sure how they got on that topic to begin with, but he found himself laughing too. He finished his drink a while ago, his body feeling much warmer and his head feeling light too.

“Leo! What about you?? What’s a good pet??” Kenny’s voice suddenly rang in Butters’ direction, probably a bit too loudly considering he was sat right next to him.

“Uhhh..” Butters had to think for a moment, not expecting to suddenly be tossed into the conversation too. He didn’t really have many pets growing up, other than… “Hamsters are pretty… cool, I guess?” He spoke slowly, his brain feeling a little slower than usual.

“Hah!!!” Craig suddenly boasted loudly, sitting up straighter in his seat, which caused Tweek to grab his arm in an attempt to calm his energy down a little. “That’s much closer to guinea pigs than… than.. whatever it was you said are! I win!”

“Oh come on, that’s not fair.” Kenny pouted, leaning back into the cushion behind his back. “Whateverr…”

Tweek cleared his throat to get the attention of the three, pushing himself to his feet. “Did you guys wanna watch a movie or something?”

Butters was the next to speak up this time, nodding quickly. “Yeeah! That sounds.. really fun…..!” He found himself humming out a small giggle, the way his body was feeling was very much amusing to him right then.

If the three hadn’t already been a little drunk, Butters was sure Tweek probably would have asked about the movie choice, but Tweek seemed to take it upon himself to pick one. It looked to just be some kind of rom com, which Butters’ didn’t really mind.

Only once the lights were turned off and the movie began to play was there finally some ounce of peace in the house, the group finally quieting down. Butters hadn’t realized how close he was sitting to Kenny now until he tried to lean deeper into the cushion of the seat, but felt himself lean against Kenny in the process.

Normally, he’d probably quickly try to just readjust himself, but he allowed himself to relax against him this time, his mind feeling a little hazy. Butters’ cheeks felt even warmer however, when he felt an arm carefully wrap around his shoulders shortly after, momentarily distracting him from the movie. 

Butters cautiously glanced up in Kenny’s direction after a few minutes, trying his best to be subtle about it. Thankfully, the dim lighting made it easy to get away with it, and Kenny’s attention seemed to still be on the television in front of them. Even in the low lighting, Butters felt like he could see every little detail, especially when they were this close to each other. He moved his eyes over to Tweek and Craig shortly after, noticing they weren’t even watching the movie anymore and were much more focused on each other instead. He couldn’t really blame them.

Being so close to Kenny like this, it felt so… comforting. It felt so perfect. He wished he could be this close to him all the time. Even if it hurt to know they were just friends, despite how much Butters wished otherwise, it was the only thing he could ever ask for.

It wasn’t long before the movie ended, and Butters couldn’t help but feel disappointed, knowing that meant this outing was going to be finished really soon. He felt the arm unwrap itself from him, and so he reluctantly scooted himself away from Kenny in response. 

Soon enough, the lights were turned back on by Tweek, which immediately caused a similar groan from the other three due to the sudden brightness in the room. It had been a couple hours now, so at the very least everyone seemed to be much more sober.

“Holy shit, warn a guy next time.” Kenny complained, blinking his eyes a couple times to readjust to the lighting. 

“Sorry, dude.” Tweek quickly apologized, stepping back over from the light switch to stand by Craig. “It’s been really fun tonight, guys. But, it’s pretty late and I’m pretty tired… I don’t know about you?” He seemed to be asking all of them collectively, but turned towards Craig regardless.

Craig gave a nod, rubbing at one of his eyes. “Yeah, I’m ready to fucking sleep. Uh.. thanks for coming over though, guys.” He awkwardly thanked the other two, pushing himself up from his seat and taking one of Tweek’s hands into his own.

“Of course, I had a lot of fun!” Butters assured with a smile, beginning to push himself up as well. “Thanks for having us.” He quickly double checked to make sure he had all of his things before he stepped towards the front door, turning towards the group. He tried to not make it obvious he was waiting for Kenny, who was also getting up from the couch.

“Thanks for the drinks.” Kenny said, a stupid grin on his face as he also began to head for the door. 

They all finished their goodbyes, and soon enough Kenny and Butters were heading out the door and down the driveway until they got to their cars, only stopping then when Kenny spoke up suddenly,

“So far, I guess you’re right.”

“What?” Butters stopped in his tracks then, turning towards him and tilting his head a bit in question.

“Things aren’t much different, I mean. At least, hanging out with those two isn’t.” He explained, sending Butters one of his signature grins and shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. “Still gonna take more than that to convince me South Park can really be the same as before, though.”

Butters felt all the feelings that the alcohol seemed to help him control before bubble back up again at that, watching Kenny in the low light of the street lamps.

“Well, we still have many more Sundays to go, Ken.” Butters assured him, returning a grin of his own as he stepped backwards towards his car. As much as he wanted to stay with Kenny longer, he was tired, and he knew he had to work tomorrow, unfortunately. “I’ll text you.” Butters promised once again, opening up his car door.

“Awesome. I had fun tonight, thanks Leo. Drive home safe, ‘kay?”

“I will… you too. Goodnight, Ken.” Butters reluctantly got into his car, unable to help but watch as Kenny got into his own as well, waiting until he had begun driving off to begin heading home himself. 

Every day his feelings only felt more and more suffocating since Kenny had returned into his life, and Butters really wasn’t sure how much longer he could go on. But yet, he still wasn’t sure if Kenny even wanted anything more. Maybe he liked them just being friends like this? After all, why would Kenny ever like him like that anyway? He was so much cooler than he was. He didn’t stand a chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for the kudos and comments ;; they mean a lot! I feel a bit rusty with writing but I have a lot of dedication for this fic already and I’m determined to write it til the end! <3 It’s gonna get pretty interesting so strap yourselves in >;3c


	4. March Has Begun

Roughly two weeks had now passed since Kenny’s return to South Park and they were well into March now. Butters knew Kenny’s birthday was already very close. He wanted to put together something special for him, something fun, and he had an idea of just the perfect thing for him. 

A house party.

Not something small like their get together with Tweek and Craig, but a _real_ house party. Something as big as the parties they used to throw in their teen years. It would take some really fast planning, and he wasn’t sure how many people would actually show up. It was so last minute, after all. 

Butters figured a good place to start was to first figure out where they could even hold the party to begin with… He knew exactly who he could ask, though.

_Knock Knock_

Butters anxiously knocked his fists together as he awaited for the front door to hopefully open, having headed straight here once he had finished his work shift for the day. Thankfully, it wasn’t long until the door was opened and Butters was greeted by the brown haired boy in front of him. 

“Butters? Uh, hey dude, what’s up?”

Not too surprised by the clear confusion, Butters gave him a soft smile and quickly began to explain his presence, “Hey, Clyde! So, uh, I’m not sure if you heard, but Kenny is back in town! It’s gonna be his birthday soon, so I was wondering if-”

“You wanna throw a sick ass party for him?” Clyde suddenly interrupted, a large grin of excitement already shown on his face. It was no secret Clyde had a tendency to throw parties, even now. So it seemed to not be very hard for him to pick up on the situation. Especially, he guessed, because Butters didn’t tend to come see Clyde to begin with. Not unless he was with Craig and Tweek, anyway.

Clyde was actually still in school, and was on the university’s football team at that. He managed to get himself a small house in South Park already with some help from his father as well as a few sports scholarships he earned in high school. 

Butters couldn’t help but still feel a little thrown off when Clyde guessed what he was going to say, and he had to take a moment before speaking again, “Er… yeah, actually. I figured you would be interested?”

“Hell yeah, man! I haven’t gotten to have a party in _ages_ . I’m excited to see Kenny, too!” Clyde hummed with delight, a toothy grin on his face. “Leave it to me. I’ll make sure that party is _packed._ ”

Butters felt immediate relief at Clyde’s assurance, having not really expected it to be that easy. He gave the brunette a larger smile now. 

“Oh, thank you so much, Clyde! I’ll be sure to do what I can to help, too.” Butters quickly promised, not wanting to entirely dump the responsibility on Clyde. “His birthday is on the 22nd, so we only got barely a week and a half until then…” 

Clyde was not at all phased, and he only shook his head and waved his hand to the side dismissively. “Don’t sweat it. That’s plenty of time for me, dude. I’ll be sure to text you to let you know if I need any help!”

Butters nodded, feeling unbelievably grateful to Clyde right then. He’d have to figure out a way to repay him later. But at least for now, he didn’t have to stress too hard about the party.

“This means a lot, thanks again. I’ll go ahead and start inviting some people and you can do the same?”

“Sounds good! See ya later, Butters.” Clyde gave him one last grin before finally shutting the door.

As soon as the door was shut, Butters allowed himself to let out a deep breath of relief and turned to begin walking towards that familiar coffee shop again. He knew who he was going to invite first, after all.

-

Butters entered the small shop, blinking a few times when he saw how it was actually a bit more full compared to the previous times he’d shown up. He brushed it off quickly however, stepping over to the counter and standing to the side so as to not bother the two customers already in line.

“Hi Craig!” Butters happily greeted regardless, sending the man behind the counter a bright smile.

Craig didn’t acknowledge him at first, choosing to instead finish listening to his current customer’s order. Only when he was handed money did he glance in Butters’ direction. “Hey, Butters. If you are looking for Tweek, he is in the back.” With that, he handed the customer their receipt and began taking the next customers order.

Butters tilted his head a bit, having intended on inviting Craig, but he seemed busy. Inviting Tweek was essentially inviting Craig too, anyway. So, he walked around to the door of the backroom, keeping the smile on his face when Tweek looked over at him as he entered.

“Hi Tweek!”

“Hey Butters. What’s going on now?” Tweek asked knowingly, already finding some kind of routine in this now. He had a cup of coffee in his hand, taking sips from it. There were also multiple types of bags in front of him, and it was easy for Butters to assume he was taste testing.

“Well, I got this idea for Kenny’s birthday. I already talked to Clyde about it, and we wanna have a party for him. I was wondering if you wanted to come?”

“ _Gah! -_ What, with Clyde hosting it? No way, man. His parties get way too crazy- _mng!_ \- I always freak out.” Tweek seemed to get a little worked up just at the mere mention of the party, nearly spilling some of the coffee in his hand.

Butters frowned, although he told himself he shouldn’t have been surprised. Tweek really wasn’t a party person, and he has tried to go to a couple before. He and Craig always seem to be gone within the first hour. 

“Aw, well, do you think you could see if Craig wants to go? I was going to invite him but he’s pretty busy right now.” Butters requested instead, not planning on trying to pressure his friend to go when he really didn’t want to. 

“Oh, yeah I can- _nh!_ -tell him… Don’t know if he’ll actually go, though.” Tweek commented, taking another sip of the coffee.

Butters smiled at that, and was really hoping Craig would show. The more people, the better, he thought.

“Thanks Tweek, I-” Butters was cut off when the door behind him suddenly opened, Craig quickly peeking inside the room.

“Honey, we are getting pretty busy. Do you think you could come help?” Craig asked softly, his attention purely on the twitchy blonde in the room.

“ _Ah! -_ Sure, Craig.” Tweek watched Craig exit the room again as he set down the cup in his hand, giving Butters a quick smile while he walked towards the door. “I’ll be sure to ask him tonight, okay?”

Butters only nodded, following after him back into the shop. He gave them quick goodbyes before exiting the building, leaving them to their work. As soon as he was outside and walking, he fished his phone out of his pocket and began looking through the multiple messages he seemed to have missed.

He had two messages from Kenny and one message from Clyde. He decided to read Clyde’s message first.

 _**Clyde:** H3y dud3 I g0t s0m3 p33ps alr3ady int3r3st3d in th3 partyyy x3 !!!  
_ _**Clyde:** D0 y0u think y0u c0uld h3lp m3 g3t 3n0ugh alcohol f0r it? THNXX ’ _

Butters tilted his head as he struggled to read the message, having to read over it a number of times before understanding. Already? That was fast. He had a good feeling he could trust this party in Clyde’s hands.

_Why are you typing like that? Are you okay, Clyde?_

_**Clyde:** I th0t it l00ked c00l x(_

Butters remained completely confused by the weird text. Clyde always seemed to be so weird. Although, Butters didn’t think he had much room to talk, some have said he was weird too. Butters wasn’t even sure how to reply, so he just didn’t. He chose to instead move on to Kenny’s messages,

 _**Ken <3: **i finally get a day off and i cant sleep  
_ _**Ken <3: **sleep is for the weak >:( _

_Sleep is the best though. In fact, I am about to do just that._

He watched his screen for the rest of the walk back to his apartment, only receiving a text back right as he got to the stairs. 

_**Ken <3: **awww ): goodnight buttercup _

_Goodnight Kenny!_

Butters paused in front of his apartment door, more focused on typing a reply rather than opening the door. With that, he locked his phone and put it back into his pocket so he could pull out his key. Once he had entered his apartment, Butters felt a yawn escape him, causing him to stretch a little with it. He quietly sighed, feeling as if his exhaustion hit him all at once the minute he stepped inside.

Butters was fully ready to just get into bed as he had planned, but he couldn’t help but notice his kitchen sink full of dishes when he had started to head towards his bedroom, letting out another sigh. He spent hours cleaning dishes almost every day, it was hard to bring himself to want to clean the ones in his home too, so they tended to get pretty piled up. He decided he’d just quickly get it out of the way and then head to bed, however.

Thankfully for him, he had become rather effective when it came to cleaning dishes, and it only took a few minutes before they were all cleaned and neatly laid out on his counter.

Butters picked up a rather tall pile of plates to lift them into the cabinet, but in doing so he tilted the pile a bit too much, and some of the plates on top accidentally slipped and fell to the ground, shattering loudly over the floor. This caused Butters to quickly tense up and breath a little heavier as he did his best to set down the rest of them instead of dropping those as well. 

As if a switch was flipped, he recalled all the times he had accidentally broken something as a child, fear quickly setting in despite the fact he lived alone now.

His eyes welled up with tears as he struggled to keep his breathing steady, his head spinning with panic. He raised his hands to try and rub at the tears blurring his vision, looking over the mess around his feet. Butters carefully stepped around the glass best he could, hissing in pain when he accidentally stepped on a small piece he didn’t see, which didn’t help his panic attack whatsoever.

Butters managed to get into his living room, collapsing onto the carpet once he was safe from the glass, ignoring the stinging pain in his foot and simply sobbing to himself, curling up defensively. 

He was alone, he tried to tell himself. No one was going to hurt him, he thought. But it was no use, the fear continued to rake through his body, causing himself to tremble with his broken sobs.

It took a good few minutes before Butters could compose himself at least enough to look at his foot, almost groaning when he noticed he got blood on the carpet. He carefully pulled out the small piece of glass, wincing with another sob. 

Butters sniffled as he rubbed his hands under his chin to wipe away the tears gathering there and carefully pushed himself to his feet. He wobbled on them a little as he got himself into his bathroom, looking for his first aid kit.

Despite still crying, he knew he needed to tend to his foot before he got blood all over the apartment. He washed most of the blood off and carefully bandaged up his foot just as he heard sudden knocks to his door, making him only tense up more. Shit, did someone hear the noise? Well, of course someone did, he thought. It was pretty loud.

Butters groaned a little to himself, rubbing at his face with his sleeves and trying to take deep breaths to calm himself down. He looked in the mirror and made sure to hide any of the panic from his face. Noticing he somehow accidentally rubbed some blood under his chin, however, he quickly zipped up his sweater all the way up over his chin slightly, pulling his sleeves a little over his hands as well. That was faster than trying to clean himself up, in his mind. 

Once he quickly seemed composed enough, Butters stepped out of his bathroom and carefully to the door, cracking it open a bit. He was expecting just a random concerned neighbor, but…

“K-Kenny?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to post these chapters daily but they may take me a bit longer now! The first few chapters were a bit easier to get through quickly but now we getting into the juice so >;3c  
> I will still try to not take too long though!! Thank you guys sm for reading <3 for your sake I will try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can!


	5. Must Have Been The Wind

Kenny stared at the ceiling of his small apartment, giving all of his attention to any little sound he could pick up on. He had heard a large crash from the apartment above him mere moments ago, and at first he was just curious. It wasn’t long until that curiosity melted into concern, though, as the muffled sound of crying soon reached his ears. Something about it sounded so familiar… and that only made his concern worsen. 

He slowly sat himself up, his chest feeling tight. He was only able to bear listening to the muffled despair for another moment before he pushed himself out of his bed. Kenny quickly pulled on a shirt and a pair of pants from his floor, grabbing his parka and pulling that on as well as he headed for his door. He couldn’t stomach just sitting there listening to it.

Kenny quickly headed out the door and up the flight of stairs to the second floor. Once he found the right apartment, he gave a couple knocks to the door. He couldn’t help but feel his concern worsen even further when it took a few seconds too long for the door to open.

When it did open, however…

“K-Kenny?” Butters sweet voice was the first thing Kenny took attention to, the sight of the blonde in front of him mostly an afterthought. Wait.. Butters?

Kenny was at a loss for words for a moment, quietly clearing his throat before speaking softly, “Leo? I.. didn’t know you lived here.” He admitted at first, but before giving Butters a chance to respond, he continued, “Hey, uh, I heard a big crash a few minutes ago… is everything okay, Buttercup?”

Kenny could tell Butters was on edge, despite how hard he seemed to be trying to hide it. It was almost like he was trying to hide himself with his sweater, as well as the door, which still was only a quarter of the way open. Was Butters alone here? Was there someone else in the apartment with him?

So many worried thoughts raced through Kenny’s head as he watched the boy in front of him, waiting desperately for a response. Although it was only seconds, it felt like hours to Kenny before Butters softly replied,

“Well, thanks for the concern, Ken, but I didn’t hear anything.. ” There was a short moment of silence between the two, the tension feeling almost palpable right then. 

“Are you sure? I…” Kenny trailed off, watching as Butters quickly only shook his head.

“I’m sure.. I was just getting ready for bed. Whatever you heard must have just been the wind or something.” Butters smiled reassuringly, but Kenny could easily tell it was forced. He knew Butters’  _ real _ smile all too well.

Kenny frowned at him, a part of him wanting to argue, but it was quickly clear to him Butters was only going to continue dismissing it. What if he really was just hearing things? No… there’s no way he imagined what he heard. 

Letting out a soft sigh, Kenny reluctantly gave in, but couldn’t hide the worry still shown in his expression. “Well, alright Leo. Sorry to bother you, I’ll let you head to bed. G’Night.” He took a small step back.

“Goodnight, Ken.” Butters quickly shut the door as soon as he was allowed to, and Kenny found himself standing in front of it for a good few moments. 

Something didn’t feel right. 

Was it really right for him to leave Butters alone like this? When something was clearly going on? He almost felt sick to his stomach, his worry nearly consuming him in that moment. 

Kenny let out a heavy sigh, shoving his hands into his parka pockets and reluctantly turning around for the stairs to head back to bed. Well, at least he knew that he and Butters lived in the same apartment complex now. Butters was right above him too. That was almost a little too close for comfort for him, though.

-

“I’m telling ya, guys… something’s wrong. He just wasn’t acting normal.” Kenny spoke from where he was laying on his friends’ couch, mindlessly tossing a stress ball in the air repeatedly. He had decided to come visit Stan and Kyle before he had to go to work that night, but he couldn’t get his mind off what had happened the night before. Butters hadn’t even been replying to his texts that day.

Kyle was sitting at their kitchen table with Stan in the seat next to him. The red head somehow focused on the school work in front of him while also listening to the conversation at the same time. It almost creeped Kenny out sometimes, if he was being honest.

“Dude, you’ve done nothing but talk about Butters since you ran into him again. “ Kyle was the first to respond, not removing his eyes from the papers in front of him.

Stan nodded in agreement, glancing in Kenny’s direction, “Yeah, like, it was probably nothing. Butters isn’t one to lie, so maybe you really were hearing things?” 

Kenny sat himself up, facing the two and giving them a frown. “I wasn’t hearing things! I know what I heard.” He sighs. “I  _ know _ Butters. I know something was wrong.” He had found himself unconsciously squeezing tightly onto the stress ball still in his hand when he looked down, letting go of it to watch it slowly puff back out in his hand again. His attention was quickly returned to the other two, however, when he heard the sound of a book thumping closed. 

Oh great. 

He heard a signature sigh from Kyle, and Kenny was already bracing himself for a lecture. Stan must have known full well what was coming, because a shit-eating grin quickly came over his face as he watched the events play out. Kenny knew that grin wouldn’t be there if it was  _ him _ who was going to be lectured. 

Sure enough, Kyle was finally turning to look in his direction, and Kenny quickly laid himself back on the couch again to avoid meeting his eyes. 

“Look, maybe you just need to get your mind off of him for a little while. If you get too attached to him again, you-”

“I’m not losing him again, Kyle. I won’t let that happen.” Kenny quickly cut him off, unable to hide the slight irritation in his voice. 

Kyle remained unphased, and only continued once Kenny was finished talking, “We just don’t want to see you like that again, Kenny. When Butters left for college… it ruined you, man.”

Kenny groaned, sitting himself up abruptly again and narrowing his eyes at Kyle. “I know it fucking did. But, I’m back now. He’s back now. I’m not letting myself lose him again.” Kenny spoke with pure confidence, and it seemed to actually make Kyle stand down just a touch. 

Regardless though, another sigh was ripped from Kyle’s lips, and he stood himself up from the table. 

“Fine. In that case, you have plenty of time to think about him later. Come on, dude. You have a few hours left until your shift, right? Let’s go out for the night. Maybe it’ll get your mind off of all this.” Kyle suggested.

Kenny rolled his head around in thought with a hum, and couldn’t help but find the offer pretty tempting. Within seconds however, he quickly fell back on the couch yet again, covering his face with his sleeve.

“Kyle’s right, Ken. I think it’d be a good idea.” Stan finally spoke up again, also standing up and stepping over to the couch. He grabbed at Kenny’s sleeve, tugging on it a little. “Come ooon. It’ll be good for you. Plus, we miss you, dude.”

Kenny quickly responded to the tugging by purposely sprawling his weight across the couch. “Awww, but this couch of y’all’s is sooo comfy. I don’t think I can get up.” He quickly bubbled into laughter when he felt the tugging on his sleeve become much harder, nearly pulling him completely off the couch. 

“If we gotta drag you out of here, we’ll do it.” Stan warned, before giving another tug, successfully pulling Kenny off the couch and onto the floor.

Kenny groaned when he hit the floor, but it melted into laughter right after, already feeling the worrying thoughts begin to leave his mind. “Alright, alright, fine.” He pushed himself up onto his feet, smiling at the both of them. “Let’s go somewhere, then.”

-

The sound of tires crushing into the snow paired with the soft squeak of brakes cut the nighttime silence as the car came to a stop. The headlights were the only source of light other than the moon up high in the sky, shining brightly over the frozen lake in front of them. 

This was definitely something that had never changed about South Park. Forest still surrounded the little lake, and it was a perfect spot to just fuck around. In all meanings of the word.

Kenny stepped out of the car, pulling his hood up over his head when the chilly air hit him. He quickly shoved his hands into his pockets for extra warmth, stepping towards the edge of the lake and peering down at the ice. 

“I wonder how thick it is now.” Stan’s voice suddenly commented from behind.

“Well it’s still March and cold as shit, so probably thick enough.” Kyle commented next.

Kenny listened to them as he continued surveying the ice, a large grin soon coming over his face. “Only one way to find out.”

With that, Kenny jumped out onto the ice, bracing himself in case it wasn’t as thick as they anticipated. Thankfully for him, it only creaked under his feet momentarily as he slid across it. He laughed as he immediately got a reaction out of Kyle, balancing himself on the ice and shooting the two of them a bright smile.

Kyle had let out a small yell of concern when Kenny suddenly jumped, only breathing in relief when the ice didn’t crack. “Kenny!! Be fucking careful, dude.” 

Stan was laughing along with Kenny, wrapping an arm around Kyle’s shoulder. “It’s fine! You said yourself it was probably thick enough.”

“Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still be careful!” Kyle huffed, reaching up to pull Stan’s hat over his eyes, before shoving him away a little. “Whatever, I guess it  _ is _ thick enough then. Let’s go!” 

Soon enough the other two had joined Kenny on the ice, music still blasting from the car not too far away. The energy was so good. They fucked around on the ice for a good two hours, laughing and sliding all around the frozen lake as if they were completely immune to the cold. 

Kenny had spent almost every waking minute thinking about Butters. But, not now. In this moment all he knew was himself and his two lifelong friends. That, and how numb his hands and face were feeling now. But he didn’t care about that.

Stan yelped when he suddenly lost his footing and fell onto the ice, groaning a little. “Ouch.”

“You okay?” Kyle’s voice piped up, reaching a hand down towards him. 

Taking the hand, Stan pulled himself back up and gave Kyle a smile and a nod. “I’m fine, thanks..” 

Kenny glanced towards his friends, his eyes soon lowering to their hands, which stayed clasped together. In that moment he felt a feeling refill his chest and his mind went blank with only thoughts of those bright blue eyes… golden hair. He wanted to hold his hand.

“Kenny?”

Stan’s voice snapped him out of his daze, and he noticed the two now closer in front of him. Kenny cleared his throat and quickly brushed it off, “Ah, sorry.” He didn’t bother explaining himself. Instead, he pulled out his phone from his pocket, checking the time. He had to hold back a groan when he saw it, however. 

“I gotta get to work soon. Maybe we should head back.”

Kyle nodded, still holding onto Stan’s hand as they already began to head back towards the car. Kenny lagged behind a bit, taking a few moments to shove his phone back into his pocket.

_ CRACKLE _

Kenny felt his heart sink as the loud echoing sound of the ice cracking under his feet reached his ears. He only had enough time to look up towards Kyle and Stan before losing sight of them and feeling the intense cold grasp at his body. He couldn’t move.

“Kenny!!!!” The muffled cries of his two friends reached his ears, only becoming more and more faint as he continued to sink into the ice cold water. He couldn’t breath…. It was so cold. 

Well, shit. He was going to miss work. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaa sorry this chapter is a bit short! i had a lot of fun with this tho :3c  
> we will be back with butters in the next chapter dw


	6. Almost Time

“Stotch! Get off your phone and clean those damn dishes!” The cranky voice of Butters’ manager rang through the air, causing Butters to quickly react and shove his phone into his pocket as if he wasn’t on it to begin with.

“S-Sorry, ma’am!” He quickly stammered a response, shoving his now free hands back into the sink with a nervous sigh.

Butters had thought Kenny coming back meant the end of dealing with this. An entire week’s worth of unread texts, and no sight of Kenny. It was only 3 days until his birthday, and to say Butters was just a little worried was an understatement. It was almost like he was experiencing all the negative emotions you could think of, all mixed together in an awful concoction of feelings. 

The sickening feeling kept filling Butters’ stomach every time he went to check his messages, only to still not have any responses from him. What if he scared Kenny off because of that one night… Maybe he left without a word, moved on to never be seen again. Or, maybe he was…

Butters couldn’t help but shudder a little as various vivid memories flashed through his brain. No one else seemed to share the memories he secretly held onto, even if they were present in some of them. He’s never told a soul about them, since he was sure no one would believe him anyway. But, he most of all had never told Kenny. Who knows how he would react!

He couldn’t understand why he was one of the only people who would remember… What did it mean? Why did it even happen to begin with?

Butters attempted to refocus on the dishes in front of him, trying to forget the gruesome memories plaguing his head. Often Kenny would randomly disappear for sometimes days at a time, and no one seemed to really notice. That, or they just didn’t care. 

“Ah!” Butters was so tense he couldn’t help but yell in reflex and flinch when his phone buzzed against his leg. He quickly dried his hands off and fished the device out, scanning his eyes over the screen eagerly. He quickly frowned however when it was revealed to not be Kenny, but Clyde instead. 

_**Clyde:** heyy its almost PARTY TIME!! xD hav u heard from ken yet? _

Well, at least he was texting normally this time. The way Clyde typed last time gave Butters a headache. He sighed softly, a bit reluctant to respond, but was soon typing away regardless.

_No, I haven’t. ): Hopefully he shows up again soon._

Not in the mood to get snapped at again, Butters quickly put his phone away again after that. He felt his phone vibrate twice shortly after, but ignored it for now. He made a note to check his phone again once his shift was over.

-

Finally, after only a couple more hours, Butters’ shift came to an end. He was quickly pulling his phone back out the minute he stepped out of the building while he began to walk towards his apartment. He had figured the messages he had been waiting to read were from Clyde, but he felt his breath hitch in his throat when he saw only one of them was.

Stopping in his tracks, Butters quickly opened up the message he missed, his heart racing a little faster already.

_**Ken <3: **oh hey buttercup sry i was a lil busy this week lol wuts up? _

He should be feeling relieved, and maybe he did, but something about this familiar series of events gave his stomach a sinking feeling. Did he…? Again?

Butters gripped onto his phone a little tighter, taking a deep breath before finally replying,

_It’s okay! :3 I was just wondering if you already had plans for your birthday?  
_

Another deep breath, and Butters put his phone back into his pocket. He continued walking, unable to stop the many thoughts racing through his mind. Well, at least Kenny was back again. But it was hard to not worry about what may have happened. He wondered how it happened this time. He hoped it wasn’t too bad… 

Once back at his apartment, he quickly did the usual routine of showering and changing clothes only to head right back out of his apartment again. Butters hadn’t received a message back yet. As usual, he intended to head to Tweek Bros. to hang out with Tweek. He just wanted someone to talk to so he could stop thinking about so many things. He sighed as he went to put his phone back into his pocket yet again, just as he got to the bottom of the apartment stairs.

“Butters!” 

Butters quickly stopped and looked up towards the voice, seeing Kenny only a little ways down the hall. He seemed to have just left his apartment. What perfect timing. ‘ _God, you are really out to get me, huh_?’ Butters thought. Seeing Kenny safe and sound actually helped him stomach his earlier worries, and he quickly smiled brightly at sight of him. “Oh! Heya, Kenny! I almost forgot we both live here.” He quickly admitted as he walked over to him, and already made a mental note of which apartment was Kenny’s.

Kenny chuckled a little, the usual goofy grin of his already plastered over his lightly freckled face. “Don’t blame ya. I’m sorry again for disappearing suddenly, some stuff came up.” He didn’t elaborate on it. “Where you heading off to?”

“I was heading to Tweek Bros. to see Tweek. Where are _you_ heading off to, Ken? Work?” Butters quickly returned the question, his own eyes never leaving the blue eyes in front of him.

Kenny’s grin quickly softened a little. “Ah.. Nah. I lost that job.” He reluctantly responded as he turned his eyes away, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Already!? Oh, I’m so sorry, Ken.” Butters frowned in concern, and he felt the sick feeling bubble back up in his stomach. He was used to this. When Kenny used to work during high school he seemed to have trouble keeping jobs. Butters had a sinking feeling it had something to do with him disappearing randomly sometimes. “Well, if you need anything don’t be afraid to ask. Until you find a new job I wouldn’t mind helping you out!” He didn’t even seem to hesitate in offering the help, which was pretty normal for Butters. He was almost too considerate sometimes.

“Aww, you don’t gotta do that, Buttercup. I’ll be alright, don’t worry about me.” Kenny playfully ruffled the other’s blonde hair, his grin quickly returning in full force. “You know what me not working means, though? I’m totally free.”

Butters felt his heart thump loudly in his chest when Kenny made the fact clear. That’s right, he didn’t have to go to work now. So… “Do you wanna hang out? Right now? I mean- Uhm.. unless you were heading somewhere?” He nervously rubbed his fists together.

“Well, sure. I wasn’t really heading anywhere in mind, just was gonna go for a walk. You wanna join me?”

“Okay!” Butters' smile probably couldn’t have gotten any brighter right then, it had to be blinding. 

The air was the perfect amount of cool that night. It was that, or Butters was just too excited to even care about the cold. His thick jacket kept him plenty warm as they crunched through the snow covered sidewalks, mindlessly chatting about anything that came to mind. 

“Do you remember how often we’d sneak out at night just to walk like this?” Butters asked amusingly, glancing in Kenny’s direction with a grin on his face. 

Kenny hummed in agreement, keeping his hands firmly pushed into his parka pockets. “Oh, of course, that was always so fun. I’m surprised we didn’t get caught more times than we did.”

“Well, it’s nice we can do that again. Although, minus the sneaking out part.”

“The whole sneaking aspect was sorta what made it more exciting, though.” Kenny suddenly noted.

Butters pulled Kenny’s own act on him, putting on a fake hurt expression as he placed a hand against his chest and whined, “What? It’s not exciting to hang out with me?”

Kenny laughed, nudging him a little with his shoulder. “Come on, that’s not what I meant, Leo. “

“I may just have to beat you up like I did when we were kids! I’m sure that’d make it more exciting!” Butters playfully threatened, a larger grin spreading over his cheeks.

“Ooh noo Professor Chaos, don’t change around the letters of the school sign, that’s so evil!” Kenny lowered his tone to mimic his old Mysterion voice while also making it obvious he was mocking his child self. He quickly started laughing, leaning forward a little while they walked. “Hey, you seriously kicked my ass a few times. But I’d say I was definitely better at fighting.”

“Oh yeah? Maybe I was just going easy on you!”

“Whatever you say, Buttercup.~” Kenny teased, snickering immediately after. There was only a short pause before he spoke again, “Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I saw your text. I’m sure you’ll be happy to hear I have abso-fucking-lutely no plans for my birthday.”

Butters felt more excitement bubble inside him, feeling as though everything was perfectly falling into place. This party was going to be perfect. “Oh! Well, in that case… how does a party sound?” He hadn’t exactly planned on keeping it secret or anything, not entirely anyway. “Most of the guys will be there, and I can promise you there will be plenty of alcohol.”

Kenny’s grin seemed to grow immediately. “A party? Well, how can I say no to that? Hell yeah, that sounds great.”

“Oh goodie! I’ll be sure to text you when we have more details, probably tomorrow.” Butters promised, “It’ll probably be at Clyde’s house.”

“Oh wow, I haven’t seen Clyde in ages. How has he been?”

“Honestly? The same. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets mistaken for a high schooler sometimes just by how he acts. But, I guess it wouldn’t be Clyde otherwise.” Butters giggled a little, pushing his hands into his jacket pockets when they started feeling a bit too cold. “He’s been pretty good though.”

“I guess I’ll have to catch up with all the guys at the party then, huh? That’ll be fun. I’ll be there for sure.”

-

The two walked and chatted for another hour or two, and only stopped because they actually ended up back at their apartment complex by accident. Just how much did they walk? They were giggling about something as they got up to Kenny’s door.

“I had a lot of fun tonight, Ken. Thanks.” Butters smiled warmly, every negative thought having been ripped from his brain during their small outing.

“Of course, me too. I had fun.” Kenny unlocked his door as he spoke, clearing his throat a little as he opened up the door. “Uh… do you wanna come in? Just for a little bit, if you want? I could make us some food?”

Butters felt his cheeks warm up at the sudden offer, and he swore he could feel his heart beating against his ribcage. He would visit Kenny’s house all the time when they were kids, but this just felt way different to him. Not wanting to make anything awkward, Butters quickly forced himself to respond, “Well, that sounds great, thanks.”

Kenny’s expression seemed to soften then, and he quietly stepped inside. He bowed down a few inches while he outstretched his arm towards the rest of the apartment. “Make yourself at home.” That stupid grin was quickly on his face again already.

“Why, thank you.” Butters played along with it, unable to help a soft giggle as he stepped inside. He immediately began to glance around the place. It was of course the same layout as his own apartment, but it definitely felt much more like Kenny’s place than his own apartment did. 

It was arguably pretty barren, the living room only having a couch with a small coffee table and tv in front of it. There was a small dining room table near the kitchen, and the walls only had a couple pictures and posters up. Butters’ didn’t mind at all though, it was plenty homey enough for him. Anywhere Kenny was felt homey to Butters.

“Alright, I’m starving. So you go ahead and relax and I’ll whip us up some food.” Kenny suddenly spoke up after the door was firmly shut. “You want a drink?”

Butters glanced in his direction with a warm smile, giving him a small nod. “Yeah, that’d be nice. Just water is fine, thanks, Ken.” He watched the blonde head for the kitchen, and he took a seat at the couch. His heart was still racing a bit too fast for his liking, but he wasn’t sure what to do about it. If you had told Butters a month ago that he’d be sitting in Kenny’s apartment, he wouldn’t have believed you. But here he was.

“Leo?” Kenny’s voice suddenly piped up from the kitchen, his head peeking around the corner right after. “Is just some rice okay?”

Butters smiled with a soft nod. “That’s fine, thank you.” He watched as Kenny only gave a nod in return, and disappeared into the kitchen again. He let out a breath, turning back around and looking towards the television. Maybe a distraction would help him relax.

With one click of the remote, the television came to life and Butters quickly began flipping through the channels. Nothing really caught his interest, so he just picked something random. It didn’t really seem to help his racing thoughts, though. 

It wasn’t long before the food was finished, and Kenny came out with two glasses of water that he carefully placed on the coffee table. He only returned to the kitchen briefly to come out with two bowls of rice right after. “Bone apple teeth.” Kenny joked as he handed Butters his bowl. 

Butters smiled in amusement as he took the warm dish, “Why, thank you, sir.” He scooted over a little to let Kenny sit down next to him and looked down at the food. The food immediately reminded him how hungry he was, and he quickly took a bite. Oh, it was so good.

“You like it?” Kenny suddenly asked.

Butters nodded rapidly, meeting his eyes with a bright smile. “It’s great, Ken! Thank you.” He quickly took another bite of the meal.

“Thanks, Leo. I’m glad ya like it.” Kenny hummed, also beginning to eat.

The two were much quieter compared to when they had been walking earlier, mostly just due to eating. But, Butters didn’t really mind. All he cared about was having the blonde’s company. It’s all he ever wanted, really.

They soon finished their food and were back to mindlessly chatting like before. But, as much as Butters did want to stay longer, he couldn’t fight the exhaustion that he was feeling. He was really bad at staying awake when he was tired. 

“I’m feeling pretty tired… I think I may head out now.” Butters pushed himself to his feet, giving Kenny a soft smile. “Thank you again for the food, Ken. I had a really good time.”

“No problem, I had fun too.” Kenny returned the smile, pushing himself to his feet after him. “Sleep well, alright?” Kenny said as they got to the door again.

Butters pulled the door open, stepping out and turning back around to face him. Every time his eyes met the deep ocean blue ones it almost felt like time stopped, and it was a little scary sometimes. It made him not want to leave. But, regardless he replied, “I will, you too. Goodnight, Kenny.”

“Night, Buttercup.”

The door was shut, and Butters took a deep breath. He quickly turned and began heading for the stairs to his apartment. He wasn’t entirely sure how ready he actually was for this party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you guys again for the comments and kudos! ;w; it means so much to me!  
> im having soo much fun writing this fic and I hope you guys are ready for whats to come >:3 ill try to keep updating as soon as I can!


	7. Birthday Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw // weed and alcohol use in this chapter!  
> also this chapter is a BIT long!! I had so so much fun writing this one though, so have fun! :)

Butters had known he was going to be nervous for this party, but he hadn’t expected to feel almost physically ill over it. He’d spent a good hour getting ready, trying to ignore the queasy feeling in his stomach that seemed to only get worse the closer it got to party time. 

He knew exactly what type of party it was going to be, so Butters didn’t dress fancy by any means. He pulled on one of the few t-shirts he owned, choosing one that was white with a cute print on the front of it. He didn’t think too hard about it, since he ended up covering it with his usual blue jacket anyway. He had on some light blue jeans, and a pair of tennis shoes. 

The clothes were the easy part, the hard part for him was always his hair. He carefully combed his hair, trying to control the natural bounce of it to push it all in a single direction. He even put some product in it to hopefully make it last for most of the party, and shook his head a little to test if the hair would actually cooperate. Butters smiled when, thankfully, it did, and he quickly put on some of that cologne again right after.

He looked up into the mirror and stepped back a little, nervously looking himself over entirely, trying to spot anything that seemed out of place. Soon enough, he sighed with relief, deciding he was finally ready. 

Butters stepped back out into his bedroom and grabbed his phone to check the time, noting that the party was going to start in another hour. Maybe he got ready a little early, but it’s better to be early rather than late, right? Clyde’s house was decently far, so Butters figured the walk there would fill a good amount of the time left, anyway. He was sure he was going to drink a bit too much tonight, so no reason to even try taking his car. 

Butters headed out his apartment and down the stairs, stopping for a moment in thought as he glanced down the hall. Was Kenny still home? Butters had planned on just walking alone, but maybe some company would be nice. It was Kenny’s birthday too, after all, so it’s not like it’d be weird he suddenly shows up? Butters had a small debate with himself in his head, before inevitably moving his feet again towards Kenny’s door.

He raised a hand and knocked on the door a couple times, quickly moving his hands close to his chest right after as a reflex. He tilted his head when he heard noises from the other side shortly after, before the door was suddenly opened a moment later, a very drowsy Kenny appearing from behind it. 

“Leo?”

“Were you asleep?” Butters almost laughed out his words, noting Kenny’s hair being more messy than usual. “You know your party is in an hour, right?”

Kenny groaned a little as soon as he was told the information, nodding a couple times and running a hand through his messy hair. “Shit, yeah. I didn’t realize how long I was asleep for.” He was already quickly smiling as he met Butters’ eyes. “Thanks for waking me, I guess. What’s up?”

Oh right. Butters had come here for a reason. 

Butters swallowed a little, stomaching his nerves. “Oh, uh, well, I was heading out for the party and was wondering if you wanted to walk with me? I can wait for you to get ready, if you want.” Butters quickly offered, putting on a warm smile.

Kenny’s smile brightened immediately at that, and he nodded. “That sounds great to me, Buttercup. Do you wanna come in?” He stepped back, moving away from the door a little. “You can chill on the couch while I get ready real fast?”

“Okay!” Butters happily agreed, stepping inside and shutting the door behind him. Kenny was already halfway to his bedroom by the time it shut. Glancing around the apartment yet again, Butters felt a little silly how familiar the place felt even though he had only been here once before this. Maybe it was just because it was similar to his own apartment? 

He took a seat on the couch, first noting how warm it was under him. He then noticed the television was on and realized Kenny must've fallen asleep on the couch. Butters took a deep breath to ground himself a little as he fumbled with his pocket to pull out his phone. He decided while he was waiting he’d go ahead and find closure in at least some of his anxieties.

_Hey Tweek, is Craig still coming?_

**Tweekers:** _Yea i think so_

Unable to help a sigh of relief, Butters sank into the couch a little. Well, that’s good. He had a feeling Craig only agreed to come because it was for Kenny’s birthday, but that was good enough for him. 

Butters quickly relaxed as he passed the time just mindlessly scrolling through different apps, only looking up when he heard approaching footsteps roughly 10 minutes later. He swore his heart was going to jump out of his chest when Kenny caught his attention.

Kenny wore a black t-shirt with a dark blue denim jacket over his shoulders. He had on a pair of slightly torn, black jeans Butters had seen him wear previously, and a couple necklaces that paired well with the piercings that were always in his ears. He seemed to even put a bit more effort than usual in his hair, though some may still argue it was messy, it looked perfect to Butters. All of Kenny looked perfect to Butters.

“What ya think?” Kenny suddenly prompted, holding his arms out at his sides a little. 

Butters briefly struggled to find words, “You look great, Ken! Are you ready to head out now?” Kenny was grinning brightly after the compliment, giving him a nod which prompted Butters to push himself to his feet. “Well, let’s go! We don’t wanna be late.”

-

That night was actually a bit colder than the previous nights, and Kenny ended up covering his outfit with his usual large orange parka. Butters hated to admit his own jacket was almost not enough, hugging onto himself for warmth while they walked.

“You almost seem more excited for this party than I am.” Kenny suddenly commented halfway through the walk. Butters glanced toward him with a soft chuckle, shrugging his shoulders.

“Maybe. It’s just been a long time since we’ve gotten to do this kinda thing, ya know?”

Many would probably say Butters wasn’t the type for parties, and maybe they were right. But it didn’t mean he hated them by any means. He only got to go to a couple in high school, but due to his parents it was often difficult unless he snuck out in the middle of the night for it. He stopped even trying to go to them after he had gotten caught once though, making him quickly vow to never attempt it again. He had always imagined what might happen if his parents caught him drinking and partying like that, but he hadn’t really been prepared for the consequences. 

But, he didn’t have to worry about that anymore. This was gonna be the first time he was going to get to party without consequences, hopefully. Butters could only hope he didn’t say anything too stupid once he got drunk, but he was sure everyone else was going to be as well, so did it really matter? 

The pair made some small talk for the remainder of the walk, only quieting down when they began to hear the faint sound of music as they approached Clyde’s house. It must have already started, but Butters was pretty unsurprised about that. He wasn’t sure of the time, but he was sure they were a little late.

There were multiple couples and other people who seemed to be around their age hanging around the front yard of the house, but he didn’t recognize most of them. He knew Clyde was surprisingly good at getting good amounts of people to his parties, but Butters still hadn’t expected it to be so packed.

Well, it was definitely a good thing Tweek hadn’t taken the offer to come, Butters quickly realized. He wasn’t sure why he attempted to invite him in the first place. Maybe he just wanted the moral support.

As soon as the two entered the building and pushed through the crowd, the smell already floating around the house was strong. The party must have only been going for 30 minutes but it already looked as if it’d been hours. The house already reeked of weed, and some people looked to be tipsy already. The house lights were all turned off and the only source of light came in many different streaks of color, bouncing around the walls in a rhythm. 

“Kenny!!” Clyde’s voice suddenly rang over all the loud noise somehow, and Butters only caught sight of him heading towards them by his hand waving wilding in the air. “Butters! You guys finally showed up!!”

“Yeah, sorry we are a little late!!” Butters tried matching Clyde’s volume, but even when Clyde was soon right next to them, the party noise was still a bit too loud. “We-”

“Come on, come on, Kenny, we gotta let everyone know you’re here!!” Clyde interrupted Butters, already grabbing onto Kenny’s sleeve and pulling him along.

Butters blinked as he watched, furrowing his brows a little in confusion as he began to follow after them. Kenny let himself be dragged along, his eyes soon moving back to meet Butters’ as he shrugged his shoulders. He had a grin on his face, though. Butters couldn’t help but put a smile back on his face as he saw Kenny’s grin, following behind them. They were led out into the backyard, where there was a microphone set up to a set of speakers. Oh boy.

Butters stopped once he stood in front of it, watching Clyde pull Kenny along up to the microphone. The brown haired boy tapped at the mic a couple times, clearing his throat. “Hey everybody! Can I get your attention, please!?” His voice rang loudly through the mic, and it was only then that Butters realized there must have been speakers in the house too, because he could hear it coming from behind him as well. Clyde really took these parties seriously, huh?

The party quickly quieted down, and the music was turned down for him as well, and Clyde quickly continued, holding onto Kenny’s wrist and raising his hand in the air. “The guest of honor has now arrived! Everyone make him feel welcome, and wish him a happy birthday! Mr. Kenny McCormick!!~”

The crowd quickly roared into cheers and applause, and Butters honestly wondered how long it’d be until they got a noise complaint. Although, South Park Police didn’t seem to really care very much. His ears were already almost ringing from the volume, but he didn’t mind it. He kept his eyes locked on Kenny, watching his face actually almost flush in what seemed like embarrassment at the sudden attention on him. Kenny definitely wasn’t hating it though, Butters knew that much. 

Soon enough, the crowd settled back down to the level it was at when they first arrived, and Clyde finally let Kenny go. Butters quickly stepped forward towards them, giving them a bright smile. While they were out here it was much easier to hear each other, most of the music blasting from inside the house rather than outside. 

“Was that really necessary?” He heard Kenny ask, but he was laughing. “I’m sure most of these people don’t even know who I am.”

“Nonsense! I mean, maybe not personally, but I made sure when word spread about this party everyone knew exactly who it was for!” Clyde proudly countered, a bright dumb smile never leaving his face. “Come onnn, just enjoy it! Besides, it clearly did something.” He suddenly added, motioning his hand towards the house, where a couple familiar faces were heading towards them.

Oh, now it made sense.

Craig and Token, and then Stan and Kyle eventually all showed up. Stan was very clearly leaning on Kyle, and looked drunk as _fuck._ The only way he could be that drunk already is if he had drank before they showed up, Butters guessed.

“ _Kennnnyy!!!_ Happy birthday, mann!!” Stan loudly greeted, leaning forward a little when he reached his hand towards him, a bottle gripped firmly in his hand. He was suddenly mumbling, but he didn’t seem to be saying actual words. Or maybe he was?

Kyle sighed, holding tighter onto him. “Please don’t fall on your face, idiot.” He looked to Kenny, giving him a smile, “Happy birthday, dude. It’s really great to have us all together like this again.”

“Thanks, guys. I’m glad you could make it.” Kenny turned towards Token and Craig then, widening his grin a little. “It’s great to see you guys, too. _Especially_ you, Craig.~” He teased, blinking his eyes at him a couple times while raising his fists up to his chin.

Craig groaned, raising a hand to quickly flip the blonde off. “Fuck off, McCormick. Don’t make me regret coming already.”

Kenny quickly laughed in response, shaking his head and letting his hands fall back to his sides. “I’m glad you really haven’t changed, Craig.”

Butters nervously fumbled with his hands, watching the interaction with a tightening chest. He couldn’t help but feel jealous when Kenny was acting like that around Craig. Even though he knew Craig was fully taken by Tweek, it didn’t help his feelings from creeping on him. 

“It’s exciting to have you back, Kenny. We wouldn’t miss it.” Token added, one of his hands comfortably placed in his jacket pocket and the other holding a cup that Butters could only assume had alcohol in it. 

“Jimmy couldn’t make it?” Butters suddenly piped up, tilting his head in question.

Token shook his head, taking a small sip from his cup before he responded, “Nah, he had some stuff come up. He’s always pretty busy.”

No one seemed to comment on Tweek not being there. Everyone already knew exactly why he didn’t come.

“Well, we partying or what? Show me the drinks! Or maybe do y’all have some weed?” Kenny suddenly spoke happily, clasping his hands together to rub them together a few times. He sent a grin between all the boys, hoping for someone to pipe up in response.

Craig was the first to sigh, reaching into his pocket. “I have some weed, actually. If you wanna smoke a bit? All of you, of course, if you want.” He offered, soon pulling out a blunt from his pocket, raising it into view.

“Oh, uh..” Butters stuttered a little, quickly rubbing his fists together nervously. He’s never smoked weed before. He almost had during high school, but he got too worried about the smell sticking to his clothes. He didn’t really have to worry about that now, but… it still made him nervous.

“OH fuuck yeah, dude!!!!” Stan cheered suddenly, wobbling on his feet as he raised his hands in the air, almost spilling some of his drink in the process.

Kyle was sighing again, holding onto him to support him again. “You don’t get to have any, dude. You are fucked up enough.” This made Stan quickly groan in annoyance, leaning against Kyle.

“What the fuckk! That’s not ffucking faairr..!!! Everyone else geets to!!” 

“Nope. Just finish your drink, _honey._ ” Kyle urged, pointing to the half-empty bottle still in Stan’s hand.

Stan grumbled something, but reluctantly shoved the bottle back up to his mouth to take more sips of it.

“Come on, let’s get comfy and vibe, boys!~” Kenny sang, leading the group to a corner of the yard, where everyone sat themselves on the grass in a rough circle. Butters made sure to sit himself next to Kenny, still mindlessly rubbing his fists together as his nerves bubbled in his stomach.

Craig was busy pulling out a lighter for the blunt in his hand, and Kenny was turning his attention to Butters. He placed a hand on his arm, leaning forward a little to meet his eyes. “Hey, if you don’t wanna smoke, you don’t have to.” He assured, obviously not wanting Butters to feel pressured into it.

Oh, how caring you could be, Kenny. It only killed Butters even more. 

Butters gave him a soft smile, shaking his head a few times. “Well, uh, I think I do wanna try it actually. I’m just nervous.” He quickly admitted at the end, forcing himself to lower his hands onto his lap.

“No need to be, don’t worry. It’s completely fine.” Kenny continued to assure him, removing his hand from his arm after that. “Try to breath it into your mouth first, and then into your chest. It’ll hurt less that way.” He advised, winking at him once before he was suddenly being handed the now lit blunt.

“You're the birthday boy, you get the first hit.” Craig said simply, leaning back on his hands.

“Oh, why thank you so much for this honor!” Kenny jokes, chuckling a little before taking a large pull from the stick of paper, breathing it directly into his lungs. Butters watched as the tip burned bright orange, only dimming when Kenny pulled it away from his mouth shortly after.

Kenny held the breath for a short couple seconds, before blowing the smoke out in a big cloud, and Butters swore his heart raced twice as fast almost immediately. Something about the sight sent certain kinds of feelings through him. Feelings he wouldn’t dare publicly announce. 

Kenny didn’t even cough, taking the hit as if it was nothing. And he was soon handing it back to Craig. “Alright, you brought it so you get it next.”

Craig almost chuckled at that, taking the blunt and nodding. “Damn, right.” He took a hit, breathing it out shortly after and only coughing a couple times as he passed it to Clyde next.

Butters watched the stick get passed around the group, his anxiety only worsening until it was inevitably passed to him. He swallowed a little, looking down at the blunt and trying to push through his nerves. Kenny gave him a small reassuring look, and that was all it took for Butters to take his own hit of the weed. He did as Kenny advised, breathing it into his mouth first, but it didn’t stop him from coughing as soon as he breathed the smoke into his lungs. 

A couple of the boys chuckled, and Butters almost felt a little embarrassed.

“Ya don’t gotta take such big hits, Buttercup. It’s your first time smoking, so it won’t take much.” Kenny was quickly helping him again, resting a hand on his shoulder as Butters finished up his coughing fit. Kenny carefully took the blunt from him, taking his own hit and passing it back to Craig to keep the cycle going.

It only took 2 or 3 more hits and Butters was already feeling a little funny. His head felt heavy and light at the same time, almost as if he was asleep despite being completely awake. It was odd, and he wasn’t used to it. He’d felt the effects of alcohol before, but this was completely different. Better, even. 

The boys were all giggling and chatting away between their hits, Craig having had two whole blunts for them to smoke through. Kenny had made Butters stop after his 4 hits though, refusing to let him smoke more than that. It was probably a good thing, because by the time they all finished, Butters was feeling it full force.

His body felt so relaxed, he wasn’t sure he’d ever been so relaxed before. It was odd, yes, but he definitely didn’t hate it whatsoever.

“How ya feeling, Buttercup?” Kenny suddenly asked, leaning forward again to see his eyes.

Butters eyes must have been red, because Kenny was obviously stifling some laughter, and it only made Butters quickly begin giggling. “I feel… goood!~ I had no idea being high felt like this!” He laughed, leaning back only a little, but ended up completely falling back, his head resting against the soft grass. “I ffeeel like.. A cloud.”

“Most people tend to say that.” Kenny mused, laughing a little as he leaned down next to him, ignoring whatever conversation the rest of the group was having. “Good though, right?”

Butters turned his head to face him, immediately getting lost in the ocean blue eyes in front of him. It was pretty dark, so he couldn’t see very well. But it didn’t matter, he had those eyes memorized at this point. It felt like he could see every color of them even in the darkness. “Very good.” Butters finally responded after a couple seconds, his brain feeling _much_ slower than usual.

“Good. I’m glad you don’t hate it, then.” Kenny teased, turning his gaze up towards the sky now, sighing.

Butters continued to watch him, the noise of the group around them that mixed with the party noises coming from the house all faded away into a muffled sound. All his focus was on Kenny. Scarily enough, even more than usual. Was that the weed doing that? 

He wasn’t sure how long they laid there, but he was eventually snapped out of his daze when Kenny looked up towards the group again, prompting Butters to do the same. All the noise returned to his ears.

“-get some drinks?” Clyde was mid-sentence. It was easy to deduce what the rest of what he said was though.

Kenny sat himself up quickly, nodding. “Hell yeah. Let’s get this shit really started now.”

-

Within only a couple more hours, the group was far gone. Butters wasn’t even sure how much he had drank so far, but he was definitely _feeling_ it. The alcohol mixed with the weed already in his system, and he wasn’t sure if his brain even wanted to work correctly.

Thankfully for him though, everyone else was just as gone, if not more. Clyde and Token were loudly singing karaoke together in the living room, various party members cheering them on, probably just as fucked up as they were.

Stan and Kyle were somewhere in the house, Butters remembered passing by them at some point. He was pretty sure they had been making out, if he wasn’t mistaken. He wasn’t sure if to feel surprised though. 

Craig hadn’t stayed very long, and had already been gone for a good hour now. Now it was just him and Kenny, mindlessly dancing with the other party-goers as the loud music blasted through their ears.

Butters almost felt like his body was moving on it’s own, as if it had a mind of its own. His body moved loosely to the music, and he was smiling brightly at Kenny who was giving him his usually goofy grin. It was maybe even more funny than usual, probably due to the substances in his body as well. 

He wasn’t sure how long they were dancing now, but he didn’t want to stop. He was having the time of his life, and being able to spend it with Kenny? It was just perfect.

The pair slowly only ended up closer and closer the longer they danced, whether it was from the people around them forcing them closer together, or just them moving on their own accord, Butters wasn’t sure. At that moment, he didn’t mind it at all. 

Their bodies moved casually to the beat of the music around them, their hazy eyes locked together as if stuck in a spell. Butters’ whole body felt warm and fuzzy, and as they continued to stare, his heart was starting to feel it too.

They were a mere foot apart from touching now, and Butters suddenly started laughing. Kenny seemed a little taken aback at first, but he was soon laughing too.

“What’s so funny, Buttercup?~”

“I feel sooo weird.~” Butters hummed, giggling again. He lost his footing a little, falling forward a bit as his legs felt like noodles. Arms quickly caught him to keep him from hitting the floor, and he started laughing again. “Thank youuuu~! You’re so niiice, Kenny…” Butters sang his words out in amusement, glancing up to meet Kenny’s eyes. Their faces were only a couple inches apart now.

“Maybe we should go relax somewhere, eh?” Kenny suggested with a chuckle, obviously handling his own drinking and smoking better than Butters was. “I don’t think you can dance anymore, Leo.”

Butters whined, not even attempting to get back to his feet as he leaned against him. “But I’m having funnnn!!~”

“And you can keep having fun, but somewhere else, okay? Let’s go.” Kenny urged him, easily beginning to lead him out of the crowd and soon up the stairs. There were a few couples up here, all busy being all over each other, away from the heart of the party.

The music became more and more faint as they soon headed into Clyde’s bedroom, which was thankfully empty. The door was shut, and Butters felt himself be sat down on the bed. He could barely hold himself up though, and quickly fell back onto the soft surface once Kenny let him go. He giggled again.

“You’re so silly, Butters.” Kenny commented teasingly, sitting himself down next to him. “Are you having fun?~”

Butters looked up towards him, smiling brighter than ever, his cheeks a bright red from the alcohol in his system. “Of courrrse I am! I always have ffun with you, Kennn…!~” His words dragged out. 

Kenny was soon laying himself down on the bed too, laying on his side to face him. Their legs hung off the side of the bed, but it didn’t make it any less comfortable. Butters quickly found himself in a trance again, looking deep into the blue eyes. He stopped giggling, actually calming down for a good moment.

The two didn’t say anything, and if Butters hadn’t been so drunk already, he probably would feel the tension in the air between them. But, he was blind to it. All he knew right then was how beautiful he thought Kenny’s eyes were. It was always as if they held the entire ocean in them, and it filled Butters’ heart with too many feelings he tried to ignore. All he knew was how much he loved the red that was dusted over his freckled cheeks, and the perfect mess that was his blonde hair.

Kenny’s eyes almost felt as if they were searching right into his soul, and Butters was surprised it didn’t leave his body out of fear. He squeezed his eyes shut when Kenny’s hand suddenly brushed against his forehead, feeling some of his now messy hair be brushed out of his face. When he opened his eyes again, Kenny was still staring into them. 

“Happy birthday, Kenny.~” Butters finally spoke up, a softer smile finding its way across his face.

“Thanks… I had so much fun tonight, Buttercup.” Kenny spoke quietly, and seemed to be debating on something in his head. Whatever it was, he must have decided against it, and soon his hand moved back away from Butters’ face. 

“Thank you, too.” Butters found himself saying, although he didn’t really anticipate saying it outloud. He averted his eyes right after, trying to explain himself, “I haven’t been this happy in so long, since you’ve been back. It feels like everything is how it’s supposed to be…” He glanced back to Kenny’s face again.

Kenny was smiling, his eyes piercing through him yet again. “Me too.”

The pair fell into silence again, only being snapped out of their trances when the door suddenly slammed open. Butters quickly yelled in response, sitting himself up quickly. He was still feeling the effects of all the drinking, so he didn’t balance his weight well, and fell face first onto the floor, groaning a little.

“Oh, there you guys are!” Clyde’s voice spoke up. “Hey, the party is gonna end pretty soon, I’m beat. So, uh, if you could leave my room that’d be cool.” He mostly jokes, before leaving the two alone again.

Butters pushed himself up to sit, rubbing at his face a little. Kenny was suddenly kneeling down next to him.

“You alright?”

“MMmm… yeah, I think so.” Butters responded, yawning right after. The exhaustion was finally hitting him. It was probably close to 5 in the morning now, and it was a surprise Butters even stayed up this long.

“Let’s head home, okay?”

-

The two said their goodbyes to the boys, and began making the walk home. Kenny wrapped his parka around Butters’ shoulders, letting him lean against him for support as they walked. Butters was so tired by that point, he couldn’t even focus on any of his surroundings, only taking Kenny’s lead and trusting him to help him home.

Within 30 minutes, they arrived at the apartment complex, and Kenny helped Butters carefully up the stairs. Butters wasn’t even sure where he was before he found himself being helped into his bed.

“Goodnight, Leo.” Kenny’s voice spoke up softly as he felt the comfort of his blankets be pulled over him. Butters couldn’t even form a response, already feeling his eyes falling closed as he melted into the soft mattress.

Butters only faintly heard the sound of his front door being shut, before he was melted away into one of the best sleeps he thought he’d ever had. 


	8. Reflections

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two chapters in a row wOOO  
> Super excited with this fic so far I can't wait for whats to come ;w; !!! not sure how long this fic is gonna end up but I still have a lot in store >;3c

More weeks passed since that eventful party, and Butters felt both lucky and unlucky that the alcohol didn’t make him forget it. He could still remember every little detail… His mind would randomly replay their time in Clyde’s room over and over like a broken record, and it was honestly tearing him apart. 

No one was ever as kind and gentle with him as Kenny was, and yet it treated his heart the complete opposite. It squeezed and squeezed it so much it felt like it might stop at any moment. Butters honestly wasn’t sure how much longer he could last like this. 

After all, it’s not like his feelings just suddenly sprung up out of the blue… it’s been so many years now. Every passing day only made the feelings more and more suffocating. Butters had managed to ignore his feelings somewhat while at college, but now he didn’t have that distraction. He was back to square one. 

Butters groaned a little as he rubbed his hands down his face. He sat himself up in his bed, glancing around his dark bedroom as his thoughts continued to race. He was having a harder time sleeping lately. What happened at that party seemed to unlock so many memories he repressed in some silly attempt to protect his heart. Kenny was way too good at finding the key for them, though. 

His eyes continued shifting around his room, soon landing on his bedroom window. He had more memories than he could count of all the times Kenny snuck into his childhood bedroom late at night, after his parents had already gone to bed. It was always one of the only times they could hang out outside of school back then, with him being grounded so often and all.

~

_Quiet knocks were heard on the glass of his bedroom window, and Butters glanced up to it from his pillow. His stomach bubbled with excitement, already knowing exactly what it was. Or, rather, who it was._

_Shuffling to the end of his bed, Butters carefully pushed the window open with a bright smile already stuck on his face. “Kenny!” He spoke in a loud whisper, quickly scooting back to let the blonde inside. “Remember to stay quiet… my parents would be awful sore if they found you here.”_

_Kenny took a seat on the end of the bed, shooting Butters a large grin as he already made himself comfortable. “Oh, I know they would be. Don’t worry about it, Leo” He quickly assured, and it successfully eased some of the obvious anxiety Butters was having._

_He couldn’t help but always get nervous about this, knowing his parents could always walk in at any moment. His parents, or more so his father, didn’t really like Kenny. They hated him, actually. Butters could never understand why, but maybe it was just because Kenny was everything they didn’t want in a kid. Everything they didn’t want Butters to be. So, naturally, they hated the idea of Butters hanging around him, being a “bad influence” and all that._

_Clearly, it didn’t stop the two of them from finding ways regardless._

_“Hey, It’s cool if you don’t want to, but wanna maybe sneak out for a bit?” Kenny suddenly offered, raising a brow at him._

_Butters' smile quickly disappeared and he rubbed his fists together almost immediately. He glanced towards his bedroom door with worry. But what if they found out he was gone? Sure, him and Kenny had snuck out a couple times before this, but it was still just something Butters couldn’t ever agree to immediately._

_“I’m sure they won’t wake up… You know they never do.” Kenny spoke again when Butters didn’t say anything, trying to continue to reassure him gently. Butters looked at him again. “But, again, you don’t gotta. It’s okay if we just hang out here. I even brought some cards if you wanna play something.”_

_Butters still didn’t respond right away, heavily debating the offer in his head. If he was caught, he’d surely be dead. But, it had been quite a while since they last snuck out. He also couldn’t deny that Kenny was right, they never woke up after they already went to bed… thankfully._

_He eventually smiled again, nodding a couple times. “We can go out for a bit, if you want, Ken.” Maybe Kenny was a bad influence after all. Oh well, that type of thing really didn’t matter to Butters. At the end of the day, he only cared about not getting caught._

_Within minutes, Butters was bundled up for the cold weather outside, and Kenny carefully helped him out the window and carefully onto the branches of the tree that was almost perfectly close to his window. In middle school his father had made an impulse decision to plant more trees in the yard. It wasn’t the brightest choice, however, since all it did was give Butters and Kenny the perfect ladder to Butters’ bedroom window._

_Once they both had their feet on the ground, they shared a sigh of relief. Butters quickly got them to start walking, wanting to at least be away from his house if they were going to sneak out like this. “Where did you want us to go?” Butters finally asked only once he felt safe enough to talk at a normal volume._

_Kenny gave him a stupid grin then, shrugging his shoulders as he kept his hands firmly in his pockets. “No idea.” He quickly laughed when Butters’ expression turned into a pout, and he nudged him a little. “Come on, don’t look at me like that, Buttercup. Let’s just see where we end up, yeah?”_

_Butters couldn’t help but quickly wipe the pout off his face, already smiling again. “Okay!”_

_~_

Butters forced himself to look away from the window, pulling himself out of his thoughts. Immediately, more thoughts would just replace them, and Butters honestly wished there was an off button or something. This was exhausting.

He shuffled around for his phone, pulling it up and beginning to scroll through different apps in a feeble attempt to distract himself. If he couldn’t sleep, this was his last resort. It didn’t work, and his mind continued to race without an end in sight.

~

_Butters carefully pushed open the door in front of him with one hand, balancing his tray of food on his other with ease. Bright light from the sun blinded him for a moment as he stepped out onto the roof. He blinked a few times to adjust to the light, smiling brightly once he caught sight of who he was looking for._

_“Kenny!” Butters quickly called out to him happily, approaching him with both his hands firmly holding the tray full of food._

_Kenny was sitting with his legs over the edge of the roof, looking out over the mountains and trees surrounding the town. He turned his head around to face him, smiling wide. “Hey, Butters.” He scooted back away from the edge a little, turning his body to face him and sitting criss-cross as Butters sat himself down with him._

_Butters quietly placed the tray of food down, pushing it between them. It had double the portions a single student was supposed to have, and it was clear Butters paid extra for it. “I brought you some food!”_

_Kenny’s smile softened a little, and he raised a hand to playfully ruffle Butters’ hair. “You didn’t have to do that, Leo. But, thank you.” He laughed a little, reaching down to grab one of the chicken nuggets, shoving it into his mouth._

_“Well, I hate seeing you not get to eat sometimes… It’s not fair. I have money saved up so it’s okay!” Butters assured him happily, beginning to eat his own half of the food as well. “What are you doing up here, anyway?” He decided to ask._

_“It’s quiet up here, that’s all. The cafeteria is too obnoxious, if you ask me. I didn’t feel like having to sit there listening to Kyle and fatass bitch the whole time.” He shrugged, biting into another nugget. “Besides, I didn’t have food today so, I didn’t need to be there.”_

_Butters’ expression saddened a bit, but he nodded in understanding. He quickly brightened up again within seconds though. “Well, you have food now! But, we can stay up here. I think the cafeteria is too loud, too.” He agreed with him, moving his eyes down to the tray of food._

_It wasn’t long before all their food was gone, but lunch still wasn’t quite over yet. Kenny pushed himself to his feet, purposely stepping as close to the edge of the building as he could, a small chuckle coming from him in amusement._

_“Kenny, be careful!” Butters whined immediately, nervously pushing himself up and pushing his fists together. Kenny laughed, flipping himself around in one little hop, staying close to the edge, and it made Butters’ heart lurch a little._

_“It’s fine, Butters. Don’t worry!” Kenny laughed again, but stepped forward away from the edge regardless. “You think I’d let myself fall?”_

_Yes, Butters found himself thinking, but he pushed the thought away. He gave him a large pout, grabbing onto his sleeves to keep him from going towards the edge again. “Please don’t do that.” He spoke a bit more seriously._

_Kenny’s smile faded a bit, and he looked a little guilty then. He nodded once, keeping their eye contact as he promised, “Won’t do it again. Sorry, Leo.”_

~

Butters plopped himself back against his pillows again, staring up at the ceiling now. He quickly tried to stop his thoughts there, not really wanting to continue that memory. A part of him almost missed the way things were when they were still in school. Not entirely though… Maybe he just missed Kenny randomly showing up at his window at night, or talking to him in class or at lunch when no one else would. It made him feel special and cared for. Something he wasn’t necessarily used to. 

He could go without having to worry about his parents though, that he knew for a fact. He didn’t miss them. If he was being honest, Kenny had to be one of the only things that kept him sane growing up. Well, maybe Tweek too, but Kenny was a bit different. He’d helped him through a lot, and Butters could say without a doubt he owed Kenny his life.

~

_“I don’t want to see you come out of this room until I say you can, is that clear?! You’re grounded!!” His father’s voice boomed loudly through the room, only to quickly be followed by the door slamming shut and clicking locked as usual._

_Butters sniffled a few times, finally allowing himself to cry now that he was alone. His eye was throbbing, and he had no doubt there would be a telling bruise there already. His arms ached a little too, and he tried to do his best to just hide from the world. The world was too scary, and Butters wished he could just disappear._

_He sat on his floor, his back pressed against his bed as he buried his face into his arms, which he had resting on his knees. He let himself quietly sob now. He tried to not be too loud, though, since he knew he’d only get yelled at again for that too._

_He couldn’t even remember what he was originally in trouble for this time. He got in trouble so often, it felt like he was punished merely for existing at this point. What was he supposed to do? He made the grave mistake of talking back to his father this time, and clearly that didn’t end very well._

_Butters wasn’t sure how long he was sitting there crying, but it felt like the only thing he could do. It was the only way he knew how to cope. He was only eventually snapped back into reality when the familiar sound of knocking reached his ears. Butters quickly wiped the tears from his face, trying to compose himself, but the tears just kept coming._

_He almost groaned a little, not really wanting Kenny to see him like this. But reluctantly he pushed himself up onto his shaking legs, climbing onto the end of the bed to push the window open. He refused to meet his eyes with the blonde in front of him, though. “Y-You shouldn’t be here, Kenny. My parents are still awake…”_

_“You weren’t answering my texts and I got worried.” Kenny quickly countered, his voice much more serious than it usually was. “What happened? Your eye, it’s-”_

_“N-Nothing! Nothing happened.” Butters tried to deny it, meeting his eyes now but his voice was shaking. Kenny quickly gave him a serious look. That was all it took for Butters to break into a sob again. “I t-talked back to him. They took my phone.” He explained simply._

_“Butters…” Kenny spoke gently now, and it was clearly out of pity. Then, Butters felt arms suddenly wrap around him, and he was pressed against Kenny’s chest. “Come on. I’m taking you from here, okay?”_

_“What? No- I.. I can’t, he’ll-” Butters quickly started to panic. He tried to move away from the window, but Kenny refused to let go of him._

_“Shh… I don’t want to leave you here, Leo. Please?” Kenny was practically pleading, and it scared Butters a little. He’s never heard him sound so desperate before._

_“I… But he-” Butters stuttered, sniffling again as more tears welled up in his eyes. He’s never had an offer out like this before. Even if he knew it’d only be a temporary escape, the thought that someone cared about him this much made his heart warm._

_He still wasn’t sure about this though. He knew he’d be caught inevitably, and probably only get more hell for it. But, maybe that’d be worth it. Kenny was begging, pleading to let him help him. And, honestly, Butters was desperate for help. He always had been. But no one ever cared about him. No one, except Kenny. This night told him all he needed to know about how Kenny felt about him. He wasn’t just someone he went to school with and texted all the time, he was his best friend. He cared about him, truly cared about him. It wasn’t fake. It wasn’t just a stupid act._

_Butters finally wrapped his arms tightly back onto Kenny, pressing his face against him as he broke into more sobs for a moment, his emotions overwhelming him. He agreed to go with him, and Kenny took him to the safety of his own house, going through Kenny’s window just so his parents didn’t see Butters come in._

_This was the night Butters truly realized his feelings for Kenny, and those feelings would now haunt him for the rest of his life._

_~_

Butters finally groaned loudly in frustration, running his hands through his hair in desperation. He swore he was going crazy, he had to be. Maybe it was all finally catching up with him or something. Or was this just what being in love with your childhood best friend was like? If that was the case, he wishes he never signed up for this.

He wished he could go a single minute without thinking about him. His stupid laugh, his smile, his blue eyes, the piercings in his ears that he did himself, the nicknames, and _everything else._ Kenny was going to be the absolute death of him.

Butters sighed heavily, picking his phone back up and tapping to his messages. He hesitated after opening the contact he needed, but was soon typing away,

_Hey, do you wanna meet up again this Sunday? :D_

It had already become somewhat of a routine for them to hang out when Butters was off work, but he found himself wanting to ask anyway. Maybe he just wanted it as an excuse to text him.

Kenny must still be awake, because he shortly got an answer back,

**Ken <3: ** _sure buttercup :) sounds good to me wut do u wan do?_

_I’ll figure that out and it’ll be a surprise. ;3c Just make sure you are free Sunday!_

_**Ken <3: **gotcha im excited for it~ _

Butters felt some relief as he read their texts, somehow their interaction finally helping him slow his brain down. Now all he could think about was what he could have them do, but that proved to be much easier to ignore and fall asleep to.

He put his phone away, getting himself comfortable again as he tried his best to drift to sleep. He needed to do something special this time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you guys sm again for the nice comments and kudos ;w; it means SOO much to me that you guys are enjoying this story <3


	9. Surprise Trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall ready for some cute cliche shit?? lets gooooo!!!!

Butters finally decided on what he wanted to have the two of them do this time. He didn’t want it to be something small like their last few meetups. They tended to just go on walks, or get something to eat. Well, and the party too, of course. But he wanted to have them do something special, just the two of them. Maybe as something like a late birthday present for Kenny? Yeah, that was all it was, of course. Butters tried to convince himself that at least. 

Already becoming a normal occurrence for him, Butters found himself knocking at Kenny’s door. The door was opened shortly after, and Butters quickly spoke with excitement laced in his voice. “Hey, Ken! Are you almost ready to go?” 

“Yep, just about.” Kenny silently offered to let Butters inside by stepping back. Butters followed him inside, closing the door behind him. He took a seat on the couch, having to contain himself from nearly bouncing in his seat from excitement. 

“Sooo, are you not gonna tell me why you wanted me to bring all this stuff?” Kenny asked when he soon came back out into the living room after a couple moments, holding a backpack in his hand. 

Butters quickly shook his head, grinning widely. “Nope! Just know it’ll be worth it. Promise.” He pushed himself up to his feet, his own bag securely strapped over his shoulders. “You ready now?” 

“Yes, sir.” Kenny jokes, raising a hand to salute in his direction. Butters laughs, stepping forward to begin pushing him towards the door. 

“Let’s go then! We have a bit of a drive ahead of us.” He quickly admitted, but refused to elaborate any further. He led him out the apartment and soon out to his car. Butters threw his bag into the back seat as he got inside, and started up the car as Kenny plopped in next to him. Butters quickly put in the address into his phone, picked a playlist for them to listen to, and started the drive. 

-

It was a nearly 2 hour drive, and they spent the time singing along to the various songs they picked, taking turns with the aux cord. They talked about trivial things, like commenting on a funny license plate or funny advertisements they saw on the side of the road. But they soon passed under the sign that told them they were entering Denver, and Kenny suddenly spoke up.

“Denver? What are we coming here for?” 

“You’ll see. I’m not spoiling it yet.” Butters hummed in amusement, somewhat enjoying keeping Kenny on the edge of his seat like this. “We are almost there.~"

Kenny gave him a pout, Butters noticed out the corner of his eye, but relaxed into his seat and seemed to give up on trying to ask anymore. It was only a couple more minutes of driving and they soon were pulling up to a flashy amusement park, and Kenny seemed to finally understand, sitting up in his seat quickly. 

“Woah, excited there, Ken?~” Butters teased, but he was feeling excited too. He was especially feeling excited just from seeing how riled up Kenny already was. 

“You’re such an asshole.” Kenny practically whined, pouting childishly in his direction. “Why didn’t you tell me we were coming here!?”

“It was a surprise, duh.” Butters quickly countered, laughing a little as he found them a parking space. “Besides, I was sure you would try to argue with me the whole drive about paying for both of us, but it’s too late for that now, anyway.” He put the car into park, and was soon reaching back for his bag, pulling it forward and zipping it open. He only dug through it for a short moment before pulling out two printed tickets, giving him a grin. 

Kenny’s shoulders seemed to slouch a bit in what was probably defeat, but his excitement was not numbed in the slightest. He sighed, and his grin quickly widened immediately following it. “Thanks, Leo. I really appreciate that.” 

Butters’ smile softened a little, but he quickly pulled his eyes away before he got stuck staring, and zipped his bag back up. “Well, let’s go! We only have so much day left, ya know.” He pushed his door open, quickly hopping out onto the asphalt of the parking lot. He heard Kenny’s door shut, and they both ended up meeting around at the back of the car. 

The weather was actually pretty decent, not too hot or too cold, in his opinion. Butters and Kenny were able to get away with just some hoodies and jeans, and there were only a couple white clouds in the bright blue sky above them. Everything felt so bright.

Kenny had his bag slung over his shoulder, and he almost looked like he was visibly beaming with excitement. Butters refused to publicly announce his true intentions for doing something like this. A part of him wanted to spoil Kenny, to give him anything he wanted. He felt like Kenny deserved so much more than he ever ended up getting. But another part of him was also pretty selfish, wanting to do this to… to what? Impress him? Maybe.

Butters felt an overwhelming urge to want to grab Kenny’s hand when they started walking towards the entrance, but he restrained himself, opting to grip onto the straps of his bag instead. This wasn’t a date. They’ve held hands before, in a non-romantic way, of course, but Butters felt like it’d be too much for him right then. 

It didn’t take too long for them to get their bags checked, and then they were soon let inside the park after showing their tickets. It was not extremely crowded, surprisingly, so the lines didn’t seem too horrible. Maybe they were just lucky it was a school night, so parents weren’t bringing them to the park that day. Most of them weren’t, anyway.

“Alright, important question.” Kenny’s voice piped up as he waited for Butters to put their tickets back into his bag. “Are you the type of person who  _ hates _ roller coasters, or are you gonna actually ride them with me?~” 

Butters found himself laughing a little, pulling his bag back onto his back as he replied, “I will ride them with you, Ken! Don’t worry! I’ll ride whatever you wanna ride.”

Kenny’s expression lit up, and Butters was glad that seemed to be the answer he wanted to hear. He suddenly grabbed onto the end of Butters’ sleeve, and tried to begin leading him towards the first roller coaster in sight, but Butters quickly pushed his heels into the ground, stopping him. 

“Wait! Sunscreen first.” Kenny quickly pouted, groaning a little impatiently. “It’s important, Ken!!”

Kenny sighed in defeat, taking his bag into his hands to dig out the sunscreen Butters made him buy. “You know, I should’ve suspected something when you told me to get this.” He commented as he began to put the lotion on, his bag resting on the ground against his feet.

Butters smiled sheepishly, but quickly countered, “Yeah, well, you were still surprised anyway.~” It wasn’t until they were both properly protected from the sun and gathered their things back together that Butters held his arm out, as if offering for Kenny to grab it again. He smiled. “Now we can go.”

Kenny beamed, and didn’t hesitate to grab Butters’ sleeve again, leading them through the light crowds. As Butters had expected, he was led to one of the first coasters in sight, which actually looked a bit intimidating. Butters wouldn’t say he was scared of coasters, he thought they were really fun, actually. But he couldn’t help but always get a little nervous before the ride actually started. He naturally got nervous about a lot of things, if he was being honest with himself.

The line was only long enough that they only had to wait for the first train to leave, then they were able to get into the next one that pulled up. The two of them carefully set their bags down in the spot designated for people’s belongings. Kenny had made sure they were sitting in the front, and Butters was sure he could feel the excitement radiating off of him when they sat down. 

“Gee, you must really like roller coasters, Ken!” Butters commented happily as they got strapped in, smiling wide at him. 

“Why wouldn’t I? Nothing beats a nausea-inducing death machine.” Kenny jokes, but something about his wording clearly unnerved Butters a little, and he quickly continued. “Well, a near-death-experience machine?”

Butters playfully gave him a look of annoyance, but he couldn’t hold it for more than a couple seconds before breaking into laughter. “Well, hopefully we don’t die tonight.”

“Don’t plan on it.” Kenny chuckled in response, and then the coaster began to come to life. It quickly turned Butters’ attention away from Kenny and forward instead as his stomach tied into knots.

Butters quickly gripped on the straps over his arms as the coaster began to ascend. As soon as they got to the drop and gained speed, Butters couldn’t help it as his voice came out in an excited shriek. His voice mixed with Kenny’s own excited yelling, as well as most of the passengers behind them. 

The way his body felt with every quick twist and turn and flip had him laughing with his hollering. After only a couple loops and twists, almost as fast as it had started, the ride was soon over. They were jolted to a stop as the tracks loudly slowed the coaster down. Butters’ body was full of adrenaline, and he quickly turned his head towards Kenny with a wide grin. 

“That was so fun!!"

“Hell yeah it was! It’s been sooo long since I’ve gotten to ride a roller coaster. You ready to ride every single one of them here?” Kenny raised an eyebrow at him as the train began to slowly pull forward towards where they had started. 

Butters was quickly nodding, “Of course, Ken!”

-

The park wasn’t extremely big, so it only took an hour or two for them to already exhaust the area of all the coasters to pick from. Butters didn’t mind at all though, he actually enjoyed the smaller rides just as much too. 

Butters head was spinning as the current ride they were on came to a stop. The ride was essentially just a glorified spinning machine, but it was one of Butters’ favorites regardless. Kenny and him were sharing laughs as they exited the ride, grabbing their bags and heading back into the crowds again. 

“Are you getting hungry?” Butters suddenly asked, feeling his own hunger begin to catch up with him. 

“Oh, I’m starving.” Kenny emphasized his comment by rubbing his stomach with one hand, still holding one of the straps of the bag on his shoulder with the other. “Wanna grab something to eat?”

Butters nodded in response, already glancing around for any signs of food stands nearby. He had already somewhat got over his nerves after already being there with Kenny for a few hours, so he grabbed one of his hands once something caught his eye. He quickly pulled them along until they stood in front of a small funnel cake stand and let him go after that. 

They ordered themselves both cakes and two waters. Kenny seemed to try and reach in his bag for his wallet after they were told the total. Butters, however, was quicker, pulling some cash from his pocket and already handing it to the women in front of them by the time Kenny pulled his wallet out. 

Butters sent him a somewhat shit-eating grin as Kenny pouted and reluctantly put his wallet back into his bag. Butters happily thanked the women behind the stand before leading them to a nearby bench, sitting them down. He placed his bag against the ground next to him and put his plate of funnel cake in his lap. Kenny did the same.

“You aren’t gonna let me pay for a damn thing, are you?” Kenny asked suspiciously, though his tone remained lighthearted. 

“Mnope!!” Butters spoke through a mouthful of his funnel cake, smiling innocently at him. His goal remained to spoil Kenny, so he didn’t want him to have to pay for anything. Plus, he’d feel a bit bad considering he hadn’t told him where they were going. It was only fair for him to pay for everything, right?

Kenny’s eyes seemed to shift in mood at that, determination suddenly flashing in them instead. Butters wasn’t sure what he was planning, but he knew exactly what that look meant. He just got an idea. Butters didn’t comment on it however, only maintaining their tense eye contact for another moment before turning back to his food as he went for another bite. 

-

A few more hours passed, and the sun was just beginning to start sinking in the sky. Butters had asked about going on the spinning ride they rode previously again, and Kenny agreed while mentioning he’d need to run off to the bathroom. Butters offered to come with, but he simply suggested Butters ride a couple times on his own. Butters felt a little confused, but agreed regardless, promising he’d stay at the ride until Kenny came back. 

Butters had already rode the ride three whole times before he was feeling a little sick, forcing himself to stop after that. Kenny still hadn’t come back, and Butters was beginning to feel pretty nervous. He sat himself at one of the empty benches near the ride, holding his bag in his lap as he anxiously watched for any sign of Kenny. A part of him wanted to go look for him, but he had promised to stay put, so he couldn’t bring himself to actually act on it. He could only sit as his nerves continued to fill his head with horrible scenarios that probably weren’t actually happening.

It wasn’t until a whole 15 minutes later he finally caught sight of Kenny, quickly pushing himself up immediately, allowing his bag to fall against his feet. Kenny looked a bit guilty, and Butters gave him a soft look of concern as he came up to him. 

“Ah, sorry I took so long, Buttercup. I didn’t think it’d take me that long.” He mumbled without looking up at him, his eyes locked on the bag in his hand instead. He was digging around for something.

“Was there a long line or something??” Butters questioned, only to quickly be distracted by the large pink stuffed animal suddenly being held in front of him. A decently sized plush rabbit had been pulled from Kenny’s bag and Butters felt his heart quickly jump against his rib cage.

“I won this for you. I, uh, knew you probably wouldn’t let me spend money trying to win something if you were with me, so… yeah.” Kenny awkwardly explained his absence, giving him a sheepish smile.

Butters smiled brightly as he took the plush into his hands, his cheeks feeling a bit warm as he stared down at it for a moment. “Well, gee, thanks, Ken. I love it so much.” Butters spoke rather gently, glancing back up to him. Kenny’s expression softened, and the warm light of the sunset almost seemed to make his blonde hair glow. Or maybe his heart was just making him see things right then?

“I’m glad ya do.” He suddenly chuckled, “I didn’t expect the damn game to be so rigged, but it wasn’t rigged  _ enough. _ ” Kenny gave him a small wink, and Butters felt his heart race twice as fast in an instant. 

Butters was lost staring at him for a few seconds before he stepped forward to wrap his arms around him, his smile only brightening more. His voice stayed gentle,“I really appreciate that, Kenny. Thank you.”

Kenny quickly returned the gesture, and Butters felt his arms wrap tightly around him as well. “Your welcome, Leo. I should be the one saying thank you, ya know? So consider this a thanks.” Kenny pulled from the hug then, playfully ruffling Butters hair. He did that all the time, but something about it this time made Butters mind whirl. 

“Well, just consider this trip a late birthday present… I hope you’ve been having fun, at least?” Butters suddenly questioned, tilting his head at him. 

“Of course I am! I’ve had a blast today, really.” Kenny suddenly grinned wide, pulling his bag back over his shoulder. “We still have some time before the park closes, though. Let’s continue?”

“Okay!!” Butters responded excitedly, smiling brightly in return. He quickly pulled his bag off the floor and onto his back, opting to keep the plush in his arms. He hugged it close with one arm and reached for Kenny’s hand. “Can I pick the next ride again?”

“Go for it.”

That was all Butters needed, and he began to lead them towards what he had been looking a little forward to. He had wanted to wait until when the sun was setting, so now was the perfect time. It wasn’t long at all until they were in front of the large Ferris wheel in the middle of the park, and all of sudden Butters felt all his nerves return in his gut. It made him want to let go of Kenny’s hand, but he only squeezed a little bit tighter as if in defiance at his own feelings. 

“Ah, yeah we haven’t been on this yet, huh?” Kenny spoke innocently, looking up at the large machine towering over them. 

Butters couldn’t vocalize a response, only nodding, even though Kenny probably didn’t even see it. The park was even emptier than it had been earlier, due to most families having already left with their kids. So, there wasn’t much of a line for the Ferris wheel. 

They were quickly soon seated inside one of the cars, and with no one else needing to get on, the wheel began to spin at a casual pace. The seats had them sit across from each other, so Butters had been finally forced to let go of his hand, and was now using both arms to hug onto his plush instead. He tried to keep his eyes on the skyline instead of on Kenny at first, as if even looking at him would stop his heart in an instant. It wasn’t until they got closer to the top of the wheel that he glanced over to him.

The sun was still peeking over the edge of the horizon, casting warm orange light over them. Kenny’s hair almost looked like it was glowing again, and his eyes had never looked so soft. The way the yellow light bounced in his eyes almost made it seem like the very sky above them was in his gaze. Kenny’s eyes were focused on the horizon, a very soft smile glued to his face. 

“It’s pretty up here, huh?” Kenny commented softly, not removing his eyes from where he was looking. 

Butters eyes didn’t move an inch, his vision remaining locked on him as he mustered up a weak response, “Yeah…” His gaze remained unmoved as they got to the peak height of the ride, only quickly looking away when Kenny started to turn towards him. He hugged a little tighter onto the rabbit in his arms.

He felt his face quickly begin to heat up in embarrassment when silence fell over them. He had expected Kenny to say something. Did he realize he had been staring? Oh god... After a few moments, Butters glanced back at Kenny again cautiously. He was staring. But he didn’t seem phased when Butters met his gaze. If anything, he seemed only more focused. Butters’ heart rattled wildly in his chest.

“W-What?” Butters forced out a response after another moment, feeling a little unnerved at the silence. 

Kenny blinked a few times, obviously in thought, but his expression didn’t change. The soft, gentle smile never left his face as he soon opened his mouth to respond, “I’m really glad you’re my friend, Leopold.”

Butters swore he was going to stop breathing. No one ever used his actual name, and even Kenny usually only said the shortened version of it… hearing his full name come from Kenny like that did something weird to his heart and he almost swore it was harder to breathe. 

“I-” Butters breath caught in his throat, and he had to control all the emotions that were suddenly overwhelming him at that moment. “I’m really glad you’re my friend too, Kenny.” He gave him a smile, unable to help himself as he got lost in his eyes again. The sun was almost done sinking into the sky, and the warm glow was already fading as it began to be replaced with the dark night sky. 

The two didn’t say anything else, and were only finally pulled out of their trances when the car came to a stop. The people in the car below them were getting out. Butters quickly tried to change the subject now.

“Do you wanna ride anything else before we head out?” 

Kenny hummed in thought, rubbing a hand over his chin. “Dunno… There is something I wanted to do, but it’s not in the park.”

Butters tilted his head at this. “What is it?”

“Surprise.” Kenny quickly countered, grinning at him. “Not so fun having to wait to find out, huh?”

Butters groaned, rolling his eyes as an amused grin came over his face. “You’re such a dick, Kenny.”

“Didn’t you just say you liked being my friend?” Kenny playfully argued, raising a brow at him as their car began to move towards the exit. 

“Well, maybe I'll take it back!”

“That’s not fair!”

“Surprises aren’t fair!”

“You did it first!”

The two playfully bickered even as they were getting out, but they soon melted into laughter as they walked away. Butters sighed as their laughter faded, and he hadn’t even realized he instinctively grabbed onto Kenny’s hand when they began to walk. He began to lead them towards the exit. 

“Okay, well, where exactly is this thing you wanna do?” Butters asked after a moment, glancing towards him.

Kenny didn’t answer right away, waiting until they exited the park and were back in the parking lot to suddenly pull them in a different direction than the one they were taking to Butters’ car. “This way.” 

Butters tilted his head in question, but followed along with him regardless. They were soon at the fencing surrounded the park and parking lot and Kenny let go of his hand. Without a word, he was suddenly climbing up the chain link fence, and Butters rubbed his fists together nervously. 

“What are you doing, Ken??” 

“Shh, come on. It’ll be fine. I noticed something, and I just wanna hang around for a little bit longer. It’ll be worth it.” Kenny quickly promised assuringly as he got over the fence, plopping down in the snowy grass on the other side.

Butters hesitated, glancing around a bit nervously, but soon began to climb over the fence as well. He carefully landed on the other side next to Kenny, sighing right after. “Now what?”

“Come on.” Kenny urged, grabbing hold of his hand again and carefully helping him through the bushes and trees that were surrounding the fence. Soon enough, the sight of what looked like a small river was in front of them. Oh, right. He had noticed this during a couple of the decently tall rides they went on, as well as the drive here, but he hadn’t really kept it in his brain. Not like Kenny did, apparently. 

Kenny continued to not say a word, leading them down until they were along the edge of the shore. It was pretty dark, since there weren't necessarily lights all the way out here. But there was just enough light radiating from the amusement park behind them that they could at least see.

Butters was the first one to break the silence, keeping a tight hold on Kenny’s hand, “This is pretty cool, Ken.” 

“I thought so, too.” Kenny playfully answered, letting go of Butters hand then to lean closer to the edge. “I think it’s still frozen. The weather has stayed pretty cold this year.” 

“It looks like it.” Butters responded thoughtfully, also looking down at the ice. He flinched when the sound of Kenny's bag dropping into the snow reached his ears and Kenny suddenly moved forward, and he quickly felt concern fill him for a second. “Kenny!”

Kenny was laughing as he slid across the ice a little bit away from him. “See? It’s definitely frozen.”

“ _ Kenny!! _ ” Butters only whined again, pouting at him. He couldn’t help but get a little riled up with how reckless Kenny could be sometimes. He had a small idea of why he probably took risks like that, but Butters tried to ignore that fact. “You didn’t even know how thick it was!”

“Well, it’s obviously thick enough!”

Butters groaned, but it melted into a laugh pretty quickly. He carefully placed his bag and plush down next to Kenny’s bag. Only then did he carefully step onto the ice. He didn’t move from the edge of the ice until he was positive it wouldn’t crack under his feet. He carefully used his feet to skate across the ice, doing his best to not slip as his arms shook out at his sides. 

“5 minutes. Then we can start heading home, okay?” Kenny promised when Butters was closer to him. Butters met his eyes in the darkness, and nodded in agreement. 

So, as promised, they only hung out on the ice for roughly 5 minutes. Or maybe it was closer to 10. Or 15? Butters wasn’t entirely sure how long they ended up playing around on the ice. Their laughter and small exclamations echoed off the ice around them, and Butters couldn’t think of a better way for their night to end. 

The whole day had felt so perfect. But, it also made his feelings only feel stronger than they ever had. Every single day they suffocated him more and more, like someone was slowly adding water to a bucket on his chest. The bucket kept filling up and up, and the weight was already becoming almost too much to bear. 

Soon enough they did finally head back towards the parking lot, which was much emptier already. Thankfully, it made it easier to find his car, and Butters let out a heavy sigh once sat inside. He was honestly exhausted. 

“Do you want me to drive us home?” Kenny suddenly suggested from where he was leaning in from his open door. “If you’re tired, I wouldn’t mind driving us.”

Butters gave him a soft smile, a part of him wanting to decline, but he also didn’t want to be the cause of them getting in a wreck or something horrible like that just because he was a little sleepy. He reluctantly agreed, nodding. “Yeah, actually.. Thanks, Ken.”

“No problem.” Kenny stood back up to walk around to the driver's seat as Butters pushed himself back out. They switched seats, and Butters quickly relaxed in the passenger's seat as he held tight onto his rabbit. Kenny seemed to purposely pick one of his more chill music playlists, and it quickly helped Butters begin to doze off in his seat by the time they even got back on the highway. 

Even in his dreams, his thoughts were filled with nothing but Kenny. Kenny had to have put some kind of spell on him. It was the only explanation. But, Butters wasn’t sure if he really wanted a cure for it now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope yall enjoyed this chapterr i had so much fun writing it omg  
> sorry for how cliche a lot of this one is but i cannot help myself lolol


	10. Guardian Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another Kenny chapter for you guys! This fic is most definitely still gonna focus on Butters, but I think it's nice to see Kenny's pov sometimes too!! He's fun to write :)  
> Also this marks a whole month since I started this fic! Exciteddd!!  
> Enjoy!!

“10 minutes, McCormick.” The snipey voice of his supervisor reached his ears as he headed towards the store’s exit. Kenny was halfway through pulling his parka on as he only waved a hand dismissively and continued walking.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.” He sighs. He was always on his ass. He had only started this new job for a week now and he already missed being free from this kinda shit. But, bills had to be paid, unfortunately. He had soaked a lot of money into winning Butters that plush, too… Though he’d never admit it, of course. 

He had been allowed to take a smoke break, and Kenny jumped at the chance to get away for a bit. It was finally getting a bit warmer now that they were already mostly through April, but the snow seemed to never leave in this town, so he refused to ever go out without his parka if he could help it. Besides, that’s where he was keeping his cigarettes too.

Once he pushed out into the parking lot, Kenny checked the time on his phone as he stepped aside to lean against the wall of the building. He was at least considerate enough to not smoke right by the entrance, not intending on bothering any customers coming in and out of it. But he didn’t by any means try to hide from sight either.

Kenny put his phone away and shuffled a hand into his parka pocket, fishing for the half empty box of cigarettes he had and took one out. It took a couple pocket searches before he found his lighter. He didn’t remember putting it in his pants pocket, but that was where he ended up finding it. 

Carefully placing the cancer stick into his mouth, he flicked the lighter to life and lit the end bright orange as he took a breath in. The smoke burned his throat and lungs but he didn’t mind it at this point. He held his breath in as he pulled the cigarette from his mouth only to blow the cloud out a few seconds later. It’s been years since he started smoking and he just couldn’t seem to get out of the habit. 

Kenny was still feeling a little pissed that his last death had him out of commission for so long. A whole week! How fucked up is that? He actually loved his last job, it had been perfect. But, not showing for a whole week is sure to get you fired. This new job was alright, he guessed. But his supervisor was already the most irritating thing in that damn store. It was like he didn’t trust him. Although, if you took a look at his past jobs and how short each of them were, he wasn’t sure if he could really blame him. It made him look pretty flaky. Not that it was necessarily his fault, but there wasn’t really any way of explaining it to people.

He had managed to get a job at a small corner store, but as a cashier. The only good part to him was the fact his schedule was more aligned with Butters’ now. He also had been able to request Sundays off when he had his interview, so they could now have their weekly hang outs with no problems. 

Ah, Butters… he hasn’t been able to leave his mind. Kenny shut his eyes as he took another pull from his cigarette, almost physically feeling all the thoughts rush back into his brain. Working had distracted him for a bit, but now he was back with just his thoughts. And his thoughts were… just Leo. 

Kenny had almost lost his sense of self control at that party, and the self-embarrassment kept creeping up on him. It had already been almost a month since that party now, but it stuck in his mind clear as day.

~

_“Maybe we should go relax somewhere, eh?” Kenny was chuckling as he kept tight hold of the heavy body in his arms. Butters was clearly struggling to even hold his own body weight now, and he really didn’t want him to get himself hurt. As he almost expected, Butters’ whiny voice soon rang out in defiance._

_“But I’m having funnnn!!~”_

_“And you can keep having fun, but somewhere else, okay? Let’s go.” Kenny quickly countered as he already began to lead them towards the stairs. Butters could hardly walk at this point, so it wasn’t too hard to force him to follow. How the hell did he keep himself dancing for so long? Maybe more of the alcohol just hit him all of a sudden._

_It didn’t take long for him to get them safely into Clyde’s bedroom, and he kicked the door shut firmly with his foot. He carefully sat Butters down on the bed, and couldn’t stifle the chuckle that came out of him as he watched Butters only fall over as soon as Kenny let go of him. He was so cute._

_“You’re so silly, Butters.” Kenny commented teasingly, sitting himself down next to him. “Are you having fun?~”_

_Butters' eyes soon met his own, and the bright smile on his red face felt like it could melt right into Kenny’s soul. “Of courrrse I am! I always have ffun with you, Kennn…!~” Butters' words were slurring together. He was_ **_fucked up._ **

_Kenny slowly laid himself down next to him, never letting their eyes lose the connection. Silence fell over them, but Kenny didn’t mind it. He never did. Kenny soon allowed his eyes to move from Butters’ gaze, but only so he could take in the rest of Butters’ cute face. He would protect it with his entire life. All of his lives._

_Unable to help himself, Kenny always found himself internally cringing when he looked over the scar over Butters’ left eye. He had never meant to hurt him like that. He actually had felt a bit bad at the time, especially when his friends were much more worried about getting in trouble than getting Butters actual help. Well, maybe he had been too. Kids were pretty stupid. He’s apologized more times than he can count now for what happened, even now. He sometimes apologizes without prompt, just trying to rid himself of the never ending guilt._

_He forced his gaze to return to the light blue in his eyes, trying to rid himself of the guilty thoughts immediately. He had no idea how anyone could be so cute. Butters was so adorable… Not even just his looks, but all of Butters was adorable. The way he’d giggle when he found something funny. The way he’d still rub his fists together when he was nervous. The way he’d get so excited over the smallest little things. The way he cared so much about others before he would ever care for himself. He had such a kind heart… Kenny wasn’t sure he could ever match it._

_As if on autopilot, Kenny found his hand reaching up to gently push some of the messy hair from Butters’ face. His mind began racing as he continued to look at the blonde in front of him, and he couldn’t help but lower his gaze to his lips. This was so…_

_“Happy birthday, Kenny.~” Butters soft voice pulled him from his thoughts momentarily and he quickly met his eyes again. Kenny’s mind was still reeling, but he forced himself to quietly respond._

_“Thanks… I had so much fun tonight, Buttercup.” He was still debating the idea circling around in his head._

_No. No, this wasn’t right, Kenny thought. Butters was still really drunk. It wouldn’t be right to try and kiss him now, would it? Well, it probably wouldn’t be good to randomly kiss him, period. He’d never forgive himself if he pushed Butters into something like that without his consent first... Plus, he still didn’t even know if Butters liked him too. Kenny inevitably lowered his hand back down._

_“Thank you, too.” Butters’ voice surprised Kenny a little, definitely not expecting the response. Thank you? Thankfully for him, Butters quickly looked away and was already trying to explain it to him. “I haven’t been this happy in so long, since you’ve been back. It feels like everything is how it’s supposed to be…”_

_Kenny smiled when he heard the explanation, and his heart felt warm when Butters let their eyes meet again._

_“Me too.”_

~

God, was he glad he had enough self control to contain himself back then. Kenny breathed out another heavy cloud of smoke, leaning a bit harder on the wall behind him. Butters was one of the only people who made Kenny feel so helpless. Kenny was always so confident and quick to shoot funny quips back at people if they tried to get under his skin. But Butters somehow tore all that confidence away from him, every single time. He tried to never let it show, but when he was around Butters he felt so small. It was almost a little funny, since realistically it probably should be the other way around. 

Butters seemed to lack a lot of confidence in himself, and it made Kenny’s heart ache every time it was made apparent. Of course, he knew exactly why he was like that and he didn’t blame him. People weren’t very kind to him growing up, and if Kenny could help it, he’d have the head of every single person who’s wronged Leo on a platter. 

~

_Kenny shut his locker with a tired sigh as he slung his bag over his shoulder. Thank god class was finally over. He was so ready to go home and sleep all day, if he was being completely honest._

_A lot of the kids in the school had already left the building by now, but Kenny wasn’t really in a rush. It was a bit of a walk to his own house, so he knew he wouldn’t be there anytime soon anyway. Kyle and Stan were hanging out together today, again. So, Kenny didn’t have anyone to even hang out with today too._

_He began to make his way down the halls, mindlessly glancing at the various posters plastered over the walls, or random graffiti written over some people’s lockers. The halls were already getting much emptier as he took his time walking towards the exit._

_He slowed his steps though as the sound of someone crying began to reach his ears, as well as laughter. Well, that didn’t sound good. He couldn’t help but feel his natural protective nature come over him, and he carefully began to head towards where he heard it coming from._

_He was soon led to one of the boys' bathrooms and he hesitated for a moment, allowing himself to listen first from outside the door._

_“-’re such a little faggot! You gonna go home and play Hello Kitty again?” A boy's voice piped up, followed by laughter and what sounded like someone getting hit._

_“Maybe one day this’ll toughen you up. You’ll get torn apart otherwise!!” A different boy’s voice spoke up, followed by yet more laughter and more hits._

_“P-Please stop!” A familiar, pained voice reached Kenny’s ears, and he felt rage suddenly bubble into his veins. As if not even in control of his own body, Kenny busted into the bathroom immediately. The sight on the other side of the door only filled even more anger through him._

_Two boys were towering over a trembling Butters, who was cowering on the tile floor. Kenny couldn’t see his face, since he was curled up into a tight ball, but his soft sobs continued ringing through his ears. The two boys quickly looked up to Kenny in surprise, but they didn’t seem very scared of him._

_“What the fuck do you want? Go find a different bathroom.” One of the boys snapped at him, sending him a dangerous glare._

_The second boy stepped forward a little, obviously trying to be threatening as he punched a fist into his other hand a couple times. “Yeah, can’t you see we are busy here?”_

_Kenny wasn’t afraid of them one bit. He tried his best to avoid fights, but he could definitely fight if he needed to. He had plenty of experience fighting as Mysterion, after all. Without a word, Kenny flung his bag from his shoulder and onto the floor._

_“You should leave him the fuck alone if you know what’s good for you.” Kenny growled out a warning, clenching his fists tightly at his sides. Butters head finally peaked out from where he was cowering and Kenny couldn’t help but glance towards him with his eyes. His nose was bleeding, and his right eye and cheek looked a little swollen and bruised already. Were these guys for real? Their eyes met and Kenny felt his heart ache at the pain and fear that was clear in the small blonde’s eyes._

_Kenny made the mistake of allowing himself to be caught off guard, and groaned a bit in pain when he was suddenly roughly shoved back. The back of his head hit the door behind him hard._

_“Get the fuck out of here, man! We aren’t afraid to kick your ass too, you dumbass.” The boy who shoved him snarled at him, cornering Kenny against the door. The two looked to be built roughly the same as he was, although maybe just a little more scrawny. Kenny had a feeling he could definitely take them._

_Kenny didn’t allow them anymore warning, and quickly swung a fist up into the chin of the boy in front of him. Kenny took the moment of pained shock he was in to raise both his feet and kick him hard in the gut while pressing his hands firmly against the sides of the doorway to keep himself upright. The boy quickly fell back onto the ground from the hit._

_“You asked for it now, asshole!” The other boy suddenly roared at him as he went in for a punch, but Kenny’s reflexes were too fast for him. He easily blocked the punch with his hand, twisting the arm and shoving him back. The boy groaned in pain, but didn’t let up. He only used his other hand to suddenly swing another punch, successfully knocking Kenny in the mouth._

_Kenny grumbled in pain as he stepped back and raised a hand to cover his mouth. The taste of iron filled his mouth and he quickly felt around his mouth with his tongue, soon finding that one of his teeth had been knocked out. Oh well._

_The boy he knocked on the ground was on his feet again, and tried to rush in to grab hold of Kenny, but Kenny ducked away from him which caused the boy to only run face first into the wall instead. He was caught off guard when the boy who had punched him was suddenly wrapping his arms around him instead, attempting to hold him in place._

_Oh, so they were gonna play like that? Kenny watched as the one who ran into the wall flipped himself around, and was already going for a punch to his face. Kenny easily craned his neck to move his face out of the way at the last second, and the fist went past him and directly into the second boy’s face instead. Kenny was quickly let go as the boy groaned out in pain and stumbled backwards._

_Kenny stepped away from the two to give himself some space, keeping his fists clenched. These two definitely weren’t the best at fighting. They knew how to hurt people, but they weren’t very great in an actual fight, it seemed. He didn’t allow them to make the next move this time and quickly rushed at them now. They seemed a little taken by surprise, and it only gave Kenny the chance to punch them both in the chin and kick them to the ground in rapid succession._

_“You wanna keep fucking going?” Kenny snapped at them, raising a brow. “Why don’t you just get the hell out of here already.”_

_The two boys glanced between each other and then back up to Kenny. They seemed to be debating it, but reluctantly they pushed themselves up. Kenny braced himself back into a fighting stance, prepared for them to try something, but one of them suddenly scoffed._

_“Whatever, man. We don’t have time for this. Come on, let’s go.” One of them spoke up in surrender, heading for the door._

_The other boy followed him, only flipping around to flip Kenny off as he continued walking backwards out the door with his own comment, “Have fun making out with your stupid little boyfriend!” The door swung closed behind them._

_Kenny rolled his eyes, but quickly turned his attention back to Butters now. He stepped over to him and kneeled down next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”_

_Butters was still sniffling, but seemed a bit more calm now. He sat himself up from the floor, rubbing a hand over his teary face but refused to meet Kenny’s eyes. “I’m okay now.. Thank you, Kenny. You didn’t have to do that.”_

_“What? Yes, I did. It’s fine. Do you want me to walk you home?” Kenny quickly offered, a bit on edge and nervous they’d only try something again while Butters was walking home. Butters finally looked at him, and a soft smile came over his face despite the pain he was clearly still in. Kenny’s heart felt a little funny, but he tried to brush it off._

_“I appreciate it, Kenny, really. Thank you. I think I’ll take you up on that offer, actually.” Butters sighed then, carefully pushing himself up with a wince._

_“Did they hurt you too bad?” Kenny kept his arms hovered around Butters as he also pushed himself up, ready to catch him if he wasn’t able to hold himself up. Thankfully, Butters was able to get himself steady on his feet._

_“I’m fine. It happens all the time, don’t worry about it, Ken.” Butters tried to brush it off, but all it did was make Kenny even more worried._

_“All the time? Butters…” Kenny felt a bit guilty then. He’s been going to school with Butters for years now, but they hadn’t been especially close during that time. He knew people liked to mess with Butters, but he hadn’t really known the full extent of it. “Do you want me to start walking you home? We could meet at one of our lockers, if you want.” Kenny found the words escaping his mouth before he even knew what he was saying._

_Butters looked a bit surprised at the offer and his smile seemed to only brighten a bit more, closer to the usual smile he had on a normal basis. “Well, gee, you don’t have to do that. But, if it’ll make you feel better, that’s fine with me. Thank you.”_

_Kenny leaned down to grab Butters’ bag from the floor, handing it to him with his own smile coming over his face. “Sure thing, don’t worry about it. I gotta walk that way to get to my house anyhow.” Kenny then grabbed onto Butters sleeve to pull him towards one of the sinks. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up and then we can get you home, okay?”_

_~_

Kenny took one last hit from his cigarette before he was finished with it. He considered smoking another one for the hell of it, but used a free hand to pull his phone out first, checking the time. Shit! It had already been 12 minutes, he had to get back to work. Kenny groaned to himself, putting his cigarette out against the wall and simply shoving the bud into one of his parka pockets as he began to head back towards the entrance.

Well, at least he’d be distracted from his endless thoughts again now. 

-

After Kenny’s shift was eventually over, he got himself home and changed out of his uniform. His mind was racing again ever since he got off work. So, he did the only thing that felt natural right then. He headed out of his apartment and up the stairs until he made it to Butters’ door. He gave the door a couple knocks and waited. There was no answer. Kenny frowned, knocking a couple more times just to be safe, but there remained no answer. 

Kenny quickly shuffled his phone out of his pocket, pulling up their messages to send him a quick text.

_you not home? still workin?  
_

Kenny reluctantly turned around and began to head towards the stairs as he waited for a response. He didn’t get one, so he only sighed and shoved his phone back into his pocket for now. He breathed in the cool air as he stepped back out into the snow, looking up towards the clouds in the sky. Well, he had to do something with the rest of his time today. There was only one place that came to mind, and like that his feet were already moving. 

It took a bit of a walk, and Kenny actually got a message back from Butters partway through his walk. He quickly pulled his phone back out and smiled at the sight of the name over his screen. He opened up the message.

_**Buttercup** ❤️ **:** Yeah, sorry. ): I work double shifts today._

Kenny hummed to himself in understanding, deciding that made a lot of sense. Unfortunate, though. 

_aww sorry to hear it buttercup dont work too hard ok?_

_**Buttercup** ❤️ **:** Okay! I won’t, don’t worry. :) _

Kenny’s smile stayed over his face as he read over the texts, humming a small tune to himself as he put his phone back away again. Well, at least he was okay, then. It wasn’t much longer until he ended up at his destination. 

He walked up to the front door of the house, and without knocking, he reached for the knob. Thankfully, it was unlocked, and he quickly allowed himself inside.

“Sup, bitches.” Kenny quickly announced a greeting to the two boys on the couch in front of him as he entered, grinning wide. He kicked the door shut behind him.

“Kenny? Bro, have you ever heard of knocking?” Stan laughed a little, shaking his head a few times.

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t leave your door wide open for people to walk in.”

“It was closed!”

“Leaving it unlocked is essentially leaving it wide open, if you ask me.” Kenny quickly countered with a chuckle as he stepped over to them. He forced himself between them, separating the two from their cuddling and wrapped his arms around their shoulders. “Come onnn, aren’t you happy to see your old friend Kenneth?” He quickly began laughing as Kyle’s hand pressed hard against his cheek, attempting to push him away.

“We were trying to enjoy a movie, you absolute heathen.” Kyle snapped back in return, though it was lighthearted. If you didn’t know Kyle well enough, you might have thought he was actually mad, though. 

Kenny quickly moved his eyes towards the television in front of him, moving his arms from their shoulders so he could lean forward in his seat. “Oooooh, what are you two love birds watching, hm?”

“Detective Pikachu.” Kyle answered simply, although he clearly thought it was a little obvious due to the pokemon on the screen at that moment. “Stan really wanted to watch it.”

Stan shrugged a bit, leaning himself against the arm of the couch to give Kenny some more room. “I think the pokemon are cute, so I wanted to see it. It’s okay, I guess.”

“Stan, we’ve only been watching it for 30 minutes how can you know if it’s good yet?” Kyle piped up.

“It’s okay _so far!_ ” Stan quickly retorted.

Kenny sighed happily then, wrapping his arms around their shoulders again and hugging them towards him. “Ahh, I love you guys. Can I join in on the movie cuddling too?” He yelped with some laughter as Kyle suddenly jabbed him in the side, forcing Kenny to let go of him.

“Quit it, Kenny! You can watch the movie, but quit all the grabbing.” He sighs, picking up the remote on the coffee table in front of him. “Do you want us to start it over for you?”

“Hell yeah, I do.” Kenny gave him a bright grin. He kept his arm around Stan’s shoulder, leaning towards him a bit more. “Fine, I’ll just give Stan all the cuddles instead. I’m sure he’ll enjoy mine much more than yours.~” Stan only began to laugh, but didn’t by any means try to push Kenny away.

Kyle rolled his eyes in response, and began to rewind the movie back to the beginning. “Whatever you say, Ken.” 

The group ended up spending most of the night watching a few movies after they finished their initial one. It was pretty late by the time Kenny finally left to head home, although he only left because the pair finally kicked him out. If they hadn’t, Kenny honestly probably would have ended up staying there overnight. 

He realized then that he hadn’t checked his phone in a while, and he quickly pulled it from his pocket as he began his walk back to his apartment. He smiled when he saw a few notifications from Butters when he opened it up.

 _**Buttercup** ❤️ **:** I’m finally free! Yay!! I’m sooo tired. x~x  
_ _**Buttercup** ❤️ **:** Oh, are you not home now too?_  
 **Buttercup** ❤️ **:** Kenny? :0

Kenny cursed a little under his breath, noticing the texts were from hours ago now. He sighed a bit, quickly typing out a response.

_yeah sorry abt that i was at stan and kys lol hope u sleep well leo  
_

He decided to add the last part as he was sure Butters was already fast asleep. He must have been right, because he never got a response. It was close to three in the morning right then, after all.

Butters tended to be the one who made their plans to hang out, and Kenny was starting to really want to make his own plans for them. He’d have to think of something. They already had plans made for the next couple weeks, so he’d have plenty of time to think of something anyway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one was so much fun to write tbh eeee  
> thank u guys sm for the comments and kudos <3 i love reading ur comments sm they motivate me so much to keep writing!! uwu; thank u sm for reading!!


	11. Waffles And Sleepovers

“Sir, I’m sorry to inform you, but if you don’t get ready faster we are going to be late!” Butters called out in a fake british accent playfully from where he sat on Kenny’s couch.

“Oh, five more minutes, sire! I promise we will depart soon!” Kenny played along with it with his own fake accent from his bedroom, laughing immediately after. Butters chuckled a little, rolling his eyes as he looked back down to his phone again. He scrolled through various apps as he waited, and almost as he expected, he saw a text soon pop up at the top of his screen a few minutes later. It was from Tweek.

**_Tweekers:_ ** _Dude we are here. Where are you guys?’_

_Sorry, Kenny is taking his sweet time getting ready. Promise we will be there soon. :)  
_

“C’mon, Ken! We gotta go!” Butters quickly called out again after he sent the response to Tweek, pushing himself onto his feet. They had made plans to go to a diner with Tweek and Craig for this week’s hang out session. It wasn’t a double date or anything, of course. Just some friends getting together for a bite to eat, that’s all. Right? 

“Okayyy, I’m coming!” Kenny called out in a whine from his bedroom, and after the sound of only some minor shuffling around, he soon came back out into the living room. He had on some black jeans, and of course, his usual orange parka as well but left unzipped so the words of his T-shirt could still be seen clearly. It was a black t-shirt with a large print of Guy Fieri on it and the words ‘Guy Fieri Is My Dad’ plastered underneath it. He had a proud grin on his face, and Butters couldn’t help but immediately burst into laughter as soon as he came into view.

“What the heck are you wearing?? Where did you even get that?”

Kenny started to chuckle a little himself as he stepped over to him, shrugging his shoulders. “I found it at a Goodwill. I couldn’t not get it. You like it?” He wiggled his brows a little, pulling the edges of his parka apart as if to give him a better look at the shirt. 

Butters was still giggling, finding much too much amusement in the sight. “Of course I do. But, you really took this long just to come out in that?” He asked in disbelief, raising his brows. 

Kenny smiled a bit sheepishly, shoving his hands into his parka pockets with a hum. “MMMaybe… Look, I had a lot of good shirts I could have picked from. It just took a while to pick the best one.”

“Okay, well, you can explain that to them when they ask why we took so long!” Butters quickly countered with a bright grin. He grabbed onto Kenny’s sleeve, trying to tug him towards the door. “Now, _come onnn!!_ We have to go!"

Kenny refused to move an inch, and Butters didn’t seem strong enough to actually pull him forward whatsoever. Butters quickly groaned in frustration, but was almost laughing again as he began to whine loudly.

“Kennyy!!!”

“Ah, sorry Buttercup. I suddenly don’t know how to use my legs.” He raised a hand to press the back of it to his forehead dramatically, and suddenly somewhat leaned in Butters’ direction to lean on him. “Oh no, I’m losing my ability to stand too! Can’t… hold… myself… up...” He dragged spaces between his words as he forced them to sound more strained.

Butters whined even more as Kenny only felt heavier with every passing second, forced to use all his strength to hold him up so they didn’t both fall onto the floor. “Kennnyyy! Your legs work fine! Don’t make me drop you!”

Kenny laughed, finally letting all his weight lean against Butters now. “You wouldn’t.”

Butters raised a brow at him, a sudden grin coming over his face. “Okay!’ With that, he suddenly let go of him and stepped back. Kenny seemed to have actually expected it, because he caught himself before he fell forward onto the floor. Kenny gasped loudly right after, pressing a hand against his chest as if in offense. 

“You really were going to drop me!! How dare you… I thought we were friends.” He pouts, giving Butters a big set of puppy dog eyes.

Butters stuck his tongue out at him, giggling a little mischievously as he turned and began to walk towards the door. “You underestimate me, Ken. Now _come on_!! I’m going to go without you.”

“Alright, alright, meanie. I’m coming.” Kenny chuckled a little, finally beginning to follow after him.

It was a decently short drive to the diner, and thankfully for them, it didn’t seem too busy. They easily caught sight of the couple they were looking for as soon as they stepped inside. Butters smiled brightly as they walked over to them and they quickly sat themselves at the booth the pair were already sitting at. 

“Hey fellas! Sorry we’re late, Kenny thought it’d be _super_ funny to purposely make us take forever.”

“Hey! Come on, at least we showed up, right?” Kenny quickly tried to counter, a smug grin coming over his face. Butters rolled his eyes with a smile as he pulled an elbow onto the table to rest his hand in his palm. He blinked a couple times when he saw the obvious confusion in Craig’s face. He was staring at Kenny. Or more specifically, he was staring at his shirt.

“Dude, what the _fuck_ are you wearing?” Craig asked suddenly, obviously talking about the shirt Kenny had decided to wear. “It’s ridiculous.”

“Isn’t it great!?~ I lost my shit when I first saw it.” Kenny laughed, pushing the sides of his parka aside as he pulled at his shirt to help the pair across from them see it better. He was way too proud about his clothing choice, but Butters actually found it really cute. 

Tweek snickered a little from where he was leaning against Craig. “It is kinda funny, actually.” Craig sighs.

“Whatever. I’m glad you guys are finally here, I’m starving.” 

Butters hummed in agreement, lifting his head back up so he could open up his menu and begin searching through it. He wasn’t sure what he wanted, but he was feeling pretty hungry too. Tweek and Craig must have already decided what they wanted to eat before they showed up because Tweek was suddenly speaking up again. 

“How have you been, Kenny? Haven’t seen you since you guys were at our place.”

Kenny looked up from his own menu, shrugging a little. “I’ve been alright. Would be worse if I didn’t have Leo keeping me company every week.” 

Butters felt heat quickly flush to his face, but he tried his best to contain it. Tweek suddenly sent him a knowing grin as soon as Kenny looked back to his menu again, and Butters quickly sent him a soft glare as if to silently say ‘shut the fuck up.’

Tweek snickered a little at that, turning his gaze away again as he continued his conversation with Kenny. “Well, that’s good to hear. Butters had said you guys have been having a _lot_ of fun.” Was he doing this on purpose?? Butters quickly sent him another glare, lightly kicking at Tweek’s leg from under the table. The blonde twitched a little in response. 

Butters cleared his throat as he looked down to his menu again. “Well, it has been pretty fun. We gotta make up for all the hang out time that college made us lose, ya know?” He attempted to change the tone Tweek had tried to put to his words, his cheeks still feeling warm.

“That, we do.” Kenny suddenly agreed, never removing his eyes from his menu. 

The group fell into mostly silence as Kenny and Butters took their time trying to pick out what they wanted to order. Thankfully, it wasn’t long after they figured out what they wanted that their waiter came to their table to take their orders. Tweek and Craig ordered a large plate of pancakes to share with a side of eggs and bacon. Kenny ordered a burger and fries, and Butters ordered himself waffles with his own side of bacon and eggs. The waiter promised their food would come out as soon as it could and he left to grab their drinks.

“So, you own the coffee shop now, right? How has that been going?” Kenny was the first to speak up now, resting his chin in his hand. 

Tweek smiled, giving a small shrug. “It’s been alright. It’s just a lot of work. We have a couple employees who take over the shop for us some days, but most of the time it’s just us. It’s just a _lot_ of hours.”

“ _Too_ many hours.” Craig piped up flatly while his eyes stayed glued to the small piece of wrapping he was playing with that had been around his napkin. “If it wasn’t Tweek who I was working with I would have gone mad by now.”

“I bet.” Kenny chuckled at that, shaking his head. “Work sucks no matter what, if you ask me.”

“Money is nice though.” Butters decided to add, smiling innocently. He didn’t entirely hate his own job, but he couldn’t deny Kenny was right. Ideally he’d love to be able to just spend his days goofing off and not having to spend so much time working, but real life didn’t seem to work that way. 

“Do you guys have any plans coming up? You guys hang out every Sunday right?” Tweek spoke up again, tilting his head in curiosity.

Butters quickly grinned and sat up a bit more in excitement, nodding a couple times. “Of course! Next week we are going to go see that new Disney movie that just came out! I’m super excited!!”

Kenny was chuckling a little now, nodding a couple times as he added. “He’s been talking about this movie since the trailer first dropped.” 

“Oh, I know. You should see our texts.” Tweek suddenly added with his own soft laughter. “I’m excited you’re gonna get to see it, dude. I hope you guys have fun!” 

“The week after that, _I_ get to be the one to make us plans for once.” Kenny then proudly announced while placing a hand over his chest. He grinned, glancing towards Butters a little as he continued. “But it’s a surprise, so I won’t say anything else about it.” 

Butters quickly gave him a small pout. He already knew that, but it still made him antsy. He was really excited though regardless. He quickly wiped the pout from his face and replaced it with another smile, turning back towards Tweek and Craig again. “What about you guys? Have any plans besides working?”

“I wish.” Craig answered a little exasperatedly. He immediately sighed right after when Tweek suddenly sent him an annoyed look. So, he quickly continued, “I mean, we do wanna find time off soon, but the shop is priority number one.” 

“You guys really need to hire more people, it sounds like.” Kenny piped up, tilting his head a bit. Tweek seemed to immediately look a little nervous at the mere idea.

“Gah- well, it’s just… hard to find people who I trust to leave with the shop.” The blonde admitted, frowning. Butters didn’t exactly blame him. Tweek cared a lot about that coffee shop, but it was also always pretty clear Craig was a bit tired of how much they had to work just because Tweek was too scared to hire more people. 

“Fair, but you are gonna burn yourself out otherwise, ya know? It’s definitely something you should consider.” Kenny quickly spoke up again, speaking in a softer tone he tended to fall into when his brotherly instincts seemed to take over. He turned his gaze down to the table as if in thought, before suddenly looking up shortly after, a large grin coming over his face. “What if you let me start helping out there? My current job sucks ass. I bet it’d be much better there?”

Tweek seemed a little surprised at the offer, and Craig suddenly groaned.

“And have to _work_ with _you?_ I’m not sure if that’d be better or worse than-”

“Sure! I think I could do that, actually.” Tweek interrupted him, smiling brightly now. Craig sent him an incredulous look at first, but he seemed to quickly give up with another soft sigh. If it’d make Tweek feel better, that seemed to be enough for him.

“Really? Well, shit, thanks Tweek. I can promise you I’ll take perfect care of your shop, no worries.” Kenny promised, playfully motioning an x across where his heart would be. “I’ll ditch my current job in no time, so just let me know when you want me to start and I’ll be there.”

“Thanks, Kenny. I appreciate that a lot, actually.” Tweek spoke genuinely, keeping the smile on his face. Butters felt a bit excited for them both. He already knew Kenny absolutely hated his new job, and he was sure he’d have a much better time at Tweek Bros. Plus, it’d definitely give Craig and Tweek much more well needed time off. 

The group fell into trivial small talk for the rest of the lunch after they had gotten their food. They were soon saying their goodbyes and headed their separate ways. Kenny and Butters weren’t entirely done with their hang out yet, however, and the pair ended up at Butters’ apartment afterwards. 

Kenny almost immediately plopped himself onto Butters’ couch once they entered the apartment, sighing loudly. “Ahhh, your couch is always so fucking comfy, Leo. I’m jealous.”

Butters couldn’t help but snicker a little as he pulled his jacket off to hang it up near the front door. “Yeah? I don’t know, Ken. Your couch isn’t too bad either.” 

“You’ve never slept on that thing. I swear it _wants_ to break your back.”

Butters stepped over to him now to lean against the armrest on the opposite end of the couch, tilting his head with an amused grin, “Have you considered just not sleeping on it?”

Kenny gasped dramatically, sitting up a bit straighter. “And miss out on falling asleep to the television? No way.” 

Butters began to laugh a little now, shaking his head. “Whatever you say. Well, you’re always free to fall asleep to the television here instead.” The offer slipped out of his mouth before Butters even knew what he was saying, and he had to control the sudden rush of embarrassment he felt after realizing so. Kenny sent him a wide grin.

“Oh? Awww, you wanna have a fun little sleepover, Buttercup?” he teased, causing Butters to quickly push himself up straight on his feet again.

“Well! I mean- if you want to, that is.” He pressed his fists together unconsciously, averting his gaze. “Maybe we could watch some movies or something.. If you want?”

Kenny gave a hum, as if he had to actually think about, “Hmmm, I don’t know…” Butters felt his embarrassment quickly subside now, and he was already sending Kenny a pout, which only made Kenny begin to laugh. “Of course, I would love to, Leo. I love spending time with you.”

Butters felt his heart race at the comment, and he quickly turned away when he felt the familiar warmth rush over his cheeks. He tried to make an excuse for his behavior by suddenly making his way towards his kitchen. “In that case! I’ll make us some popcorn!”

“We just finished eating?”

Ugh, Butters you idiot, he thought. Butters stumbled with his words from where he was in the kitchen, pulling out some bags of popcorn regardless. “We- uh- Well, I’m still hungry! I’ll just keep it all to myself then, if you don’t want any!”

Butters heard Kenny snort from the living room, before he was speaking again, “Nah, I could go for some popcorn too, actually. Can’t pass up on more food.” Butters quickly sighed with relief, hoping his awkwardness wasn’t too obvious. He could hear his television buzz to life, but it was quickly drowned out by the loud popping of the popcorn he had placed in the microwave.

It wasn’t long until he got two bags of popcorn popped and poured into two bowls. He came back out with them in his hands and handed Kenny one of them. “You want a drink?”

Kenny quickly nodded, already shoving some of the warm popcorn into his mouth and speaking with his mouth still full, “Hell yeah I do. Just grab me whatever, I ain’t picky.”

Butters set his own bowl down in his seat and quickly turned on his heel to head right back into the kitchen. He pulled open his fridge and only glanced around inside it for a moment before deciding to just grab them two canned sodas. 

Kenny was busy flipping through channels when he came back out with the drinks. Butters placed the drinks down on the coffee table before finally taking a seat on the couch next to him. 

“Is there anything good on?”

Kenny hummed a bit, still flipping through them with a sigh. “Not really.” He blinked then, as if something suddenly occurred to him. “You got a DVD player! Do you have any movies?” He turned to Butters now, an excited grin on his face.

“Well, of course I do, Ken. You wanna pick something?” Butters pushed himself back to his feet yet again and set his bowl of popcorn onto the table. He stepped forward to the TV and knelt down, opening up a little cabinet underneath it in the television stand itself, revealing a number of different DVDs. Kenny practically jumped to his feet. 

“Oh fuck yes. I hope you have some good ones.” Kenny quickly set his own bowl down as he made his way over to him, and he was quickly searching through the collection of DVDs to pick from. 

It only took a few minutes for Kenny to pick a small number of movies for them to watch of various genres. He picked out a horror movie Butters still hadn’t even taken out of the package, a comedy, an animated film Butters had commented saying he really enjoyed, and another different comedy. Kenny was nice enough to have them watch the horror movie first since it was still daytime, which would make it much more stomachable to Butters. There was a reason he hadn’t even opened it yet. 

The two of them got settled as the movie started, and Butters already felt a little nervous. Their popcorn was completely devoured before they even got halfway through the film, and now Butters had his knees up against his chest so he could occasionally hide his face into them when things that he felt were just _too_ graphic happened on screen. 

Kenny was seeming to find amusement in Butters’ reactions. But when Butters got genuinely scared when the movie got to its climax, he wrapped a comforting arm around the blonde’s shoulders. Butters allowed himself to lean into the touch, finding comfort in it enough to get him through the rest of the movie. Butters quickly sighed with relief when it was finished.

“That was so scary!! It was good, though… just- scary.” Butters commented as soon as the credits began to roll, sitting himself up a bit more by moving his feet off the couch and back onto the ground as Kenny removed his arm from Butters’ shoulders.

“It’s alright, it was just a movie. It’s over now though, so we can watch that movie you like next if you want?”

Butters was vigorously nodding immediately, already pushing himself to his feet to switch out the DVDs. “Yes, _please._ "

The next movie was much more enjoyable for him, although that was a given considering it was one of his favorites. He had a huge soft spot for animated films, and especially family films. They just had a wholesome energy that most other films didn’t. 

They continued watching through the movies they picked, and even ended up picking more once they finished the first four, still not ready to sleep despite how late it had gotten by that point. At least, at first. Butters forever had a horrible time keeping himself awake once his exhaustion began to kick in, and by the time they were halfway through their fifth movie, his eyes were feeling heavy. 

Butters body felt heavier and he was having a hard time concentrating on the movie in front of him, his body beginning to slouch as the darkness of sleep began to overtake him. By the time he was half asleep, his head was already leaning against Kenny’s shoulder as he drifted off to sleep and he could only faintly feel the comfort of Kenny’s arm wrapping around his shoulders again. 

Kenny always made him feel so safe. He wished he could just be with him all the time like this… It was always when he felt the most at peace. He wasn’t sure how long he was asleep for, but he only stirred awake when he felt his body being shaken a little and a voice speaking quietly to him.

“..eo…. Leo, you gotta wake up, sleepyhead. Maybe we should get you into bed, huh?” Kenny’s voice began to register to him in his half-asleep state and Butters groaned a little. 

Butters blinked his eyes open a bit, at first catching sight of credits rolling on the screen in front of them, and then he carefully sat himself up from Kenny’s shoulder as he raised a hand to rub at his eyes. 

“Come on. Let’s get to sleep, okay?” Kenny continued speaking softly to him as he was pushing himself to his feet. Butters reluctantly got onto his feet as well, almost wobbling a little as his brain felt fuzzy from the sleep still clouding it. 

Kenny quietly led him to his bedroom and into the safety and comfort of his bed. Butters felt it a bit familiar already, somewhat reminding him of when Kenny helped him get to bed after that party. But, this time Kenny was staying the night, though. 

“Mmm…. goodnight, Ken…” Butters mumbled out the words as he curled up in his covers, already feeling the hands of sleep begin to grab at him again. 

“Night, Buttercup. Sleep well, kay?” Kenny spoke quietly, and Butters felt a hand run through his hair a couple times. The sound of the soft footsteps leaving for the living room reached his ears, and he was quickly out like a light. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3 thank u guys as usual for the kudos and comments!! im glad you guys seem to be enjoying this story as much as I am!  
> things are going to get very interesting super soon... like VERY soon uwu no spoilers haha  
> u better put ur seatbelts on!!!


	12. Snowball Fights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finished this chapter just in time for butters birthday yesss quick happy bday to the best boy uwu;  
> anyway lets get into it

_Ring-Ding_

The bell above the coffee shop’s door ringed out as Butters pushed himself inside. He was used to coming here to see Tweek, but he was looking for a different blonde behind the counter this time. A smile quickly came over his face when he saw exactly who he was looking for behind the register, and he quickly began to step over to him.

“Heya Ken! You still liking it here?” 

Kenny had already been working at the coffee shop for a whole week now, and thankfully for them, Tweek was nice enough to let Kenny have Sundays off. It was Saturday, and tomorrow night they had whatever Kenny had planned in store for them. But Butters took any chance he could to see Kenny, and now that he worked at the shop he tended to visit anyway, he saw no reason he couldn’t come see him whenever he pleased. 

“Hey Buttercup. It’s been pretty good. It doesn’t get too busy, and it’s nice having you visit all the time, ya know?” Kenny leaned against the counter to rest his chin against his palm, sending Butters a large grin. “It’s also nice to have a boss who isn’t an annoying piece of shit for once. Tweek is pretty great.”

Butters hummed in agreement, tilting his head a little now and raising a brow. “What about Craig?”

Kenny’s grin seemed to look a bit more amused. “Oh, I’ve had a couple shifts with him already. He’s in the back, actually. Honestly? It’s just entertaining.” He laughed a little, shrugging his shoulders. “You’d be surprised how much he actually puts up with me when it’s just us here.”

“Oh really?” Butters raised a brow, chuckling a little. “Well, that’s good then! It’s been nice to see Tweek and Craig actually get more time off, ya know? I used to worry about Tweek a lot.”

“I don’t blame ya. It’s easy to worry about that guy. He’s gonna be the death of himself one day, I swear. Which is a little funny since he seems to think everything else is what will kill him.” Kenny mused, before suddenly smiling even wider, raising his brows. “You ready for tomorrow?”

Butters felt his stomach spark with nerves, but he felt excited. He really hoped Kenny wouldn’t spoil him too much like he had with his own surprise those couple weeks ago. He couldn’t even begin to guess what he might have planned for them, but he’d be happy with whatever it was. All he cared about was spending time with Kenny, after all. 

He quickly nodded, smiling brighter at him in return. “Mhm!! Of course I am, Ken.” He paused for a moment, before suddenly giving Kenny a set of big puppy dog eyes as he whined, leaning against the counter a little. “Can I at least have a _hint_ to what it is we are doing?”

Kenny seemed actually a little phased at first, but he quickly shook his head with a small laugh. “Nope. Don’t you dare try that on me, I’m not looking.” He raised a free hand to cover his eyes as he said so. “No hints.”

Butters quickly pouted, standing back up straight and crossing his arms with a small huff. “Fiiine.. It was worth a shot.”

Kenny uncovered his eyes after Butters gave up, giving him a smug grin. “It’ll be worth it. Promise. Just-” Kenny cut himself off as the sound of the door to the backroom being suddenly opened reached their ears. A heavy sigh from Craig fell over the room immediately after.

“I can hear you two flirting from all the way back there.” He said plainly as he stepped behind the counter and past Kenny. He knelt down and seemed to be rummaging for something from underneath it.

“You say that like you and Tweek don’t flirt the whole time you guys are working together?” Kenny quickly sniped back at him, the grin never leaving his face as he stood himself up straight again. Butters felt his face heat up a little at Craig’s wording, as well as Kenny not denying it. Although, Kenny wasn’t the type to get very defensive about that kinda thing, anyway.

Craig didn’t look at him and only raised a hand to flip him off with a grumble. “Shut the fuck up, McCormick.” He lowered the hand shortly after, seeming to have found what he was looking for. He stood himself back up with a bag in his hands, which Butters could only assume was coffee grounds of some kind. “Just don’t let yourself be _too_ distracted, dude.” With that, Craig left for the back room again.

Kenny rolled his eyes a little, but the smile never left his face. “The place is fucking empty. What does he even mean?” He shook his head, turning his attention back to Butters now. “Anyway, as I was sayin’, just come down to my apartment around four pm tomorrow, okay?"

“Okay! I’ll be there.” Butters quickly promised. He blinked and glanced back when the bell of the front door rang out, and he saw a couple people push into the store. So, he turned back to Kenny again as he stepped to the side. “Well, it’s not so empty now. I guess I’ll leave you to actually do your job? I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Sounds good. See you then, Buttercup.” Kenny gave him a small wave, but ultimately had to turn his attention away when the people who just entered came up to the register. Butters had returned the wave, and was quickly making his way back out of the building. He was so excited. 

-

Butters ended up visiting Tweek at his house after he left the coffee shop, and thankfully it helped pass the time quickly. It wasn’t long until he had to head home and to bed, and now it was the next day and only a couple minutes to four. So, Butters had already started getting ready 30 minutes prior. He didn’t know what they were doing this time, but he assumed he could dress casually as he usually did for their meetups. 

He got into a habit of putting on that cologne every time they were going to meet up and he noted how he already somehow went through a third of it. It wasn’t a very big bottle, but he decided at least it was being put to use. It only took a brief glance in the mirror before he decided he was ready, and he grabbed his phone from his bed and pushed it into his pocket as he headed for the door.

With just a quick trip out and down the apartment complex stairs, he was soon at Kenny’s door. He gave it a couple knocks and waited anxiously to be let inside. Thankfully, it was only a short moment before the door was suddenly opened and Butters was already quickly smiling.

“Hey, Leo! Shit, is it four already?”

“Hiya Ken! Yep, it sure is!” Usually Kenny would have already been letting him inside at this point, but if anything he seemed to be trying to block him from getting in right away, causing Butters to tilt his head a little. 

“Uhh.. can you wait out here for just a second?” Kenny asked suddenly, glancing back toward his apartment a little. “I just need a minute, that’s all.”

Butters felt more confused, and maybe a little more nervous now too. “Well, sure. I don’t mind.”

“Awesome. I’ll be right back.” Kenny quickly shut the door after that. 

Well, that was definitely weird. Butters awkwardly rocked on his heels as he waited, glancing around the hall to keep himself occupied. It was only a couple minutes before the door opened again.

“Alright! Sorry about that, you can come in now.” Kenny grinned with excitement, stepping himself back and opening the door wider to let Butters come in. “Hope you’re hungry.”

Butters blinked in confusion, but was feeling pretty eager now. He actually was hungry. When he stepped into the apartment he hadn’t expected the sight he saw though. There were pretty white string lights hung up around the walls, and the dining room table had a meal set out on it. There was music playing from Kenny’s phone that was placed on the coffee table in the middle of the living room, and already the smell from the food was reminding Butters just how hungry he was. 

He turned to Kenny now after the door was shut behind them, a shocked expression stuck over his face. “What is all this?” Butters asked in surprise, unable to deny the weird feeling the set up made his heart feel. 

“Well, I wanted us to go get some food before we get to the second half of what I have planned tonight. But, I’m a bit low on cash right now, if I’m being honest…” He chuckled awkwardly, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “So, I figured I’d just make a restaurant here instead, ya know? Do you like it?”

Butters couldn’t help himself, and he quickly stepped over to wrap his arms tightly around Kenny with a bright smile. “Of course I do, Ken!” He stepped back, meeting his eyes. “I love it so much, thank you.”

Kenny smiled a bit brighter at that, and he raised a hand to ruffle Butters’ hair a bit. “I’m glad. It’s no problem, really. Come on, let’s eat before the food I worked so hard on gets cold, yeah?”

Butters nodded, and quickly began to make his way to the table with him. There were a couple different foods laid out in the middle of it. There was a large bowl of rice pilaf and another bowl that looked to be filled with garlic bread. On each of their plates was what looked like baked chicken breasts. It all looked so good. 

Taking a seat at the table, Butters glanced around the apartment once more, finding the lighting from the string lights filling his heart with warm feelings. Kenny was so caring, it was too much for him sometimes. He was so good at making do with what he has, and although he knew why he was so good at it, it made him really happy regardless. 

“Dig in.” Kenny spoke up once they both sat down, the large grin seeming to never leave his face. Butters couldn’t seem to wipe away his own smile either, though. 

“I appreciate this a lot, Kenny. Thanks.” Butters decided to thank him again, before he quickly began to fill up the rest of his plate with some of the rice and two pieces of the bread. He smiled a bit bright after he took a bite of the chicken, sending Kenny an excited look as he talked through a full mouth, “This is so good, Ken!!”

“Aw, thanks Buttercup. I’m glad ya like it.” Kenny took a bite of his own food, before speaking up again shortly after, “When we are done with this, I have somewhere I want us to go.”

The nerves returned in Butters’ gut, but he nodded eagerly. “Okay! Sounds good to me, Ken.” He took another bite of the meal, allowing them to fall into silence while they ate. They made some trivial small talk here and there, but for the most part the silence was only filled with the music still softly playing from Kenny’s phone.

-

Kenny’s truck squealed out obnoxiously as Kenny pushed the brakes to pull it to a stop in the snow. They had hung out around Kenny’s apartment for a few hours before they finally left for what Kenny had planned. It was already close to 9pm or so now and the sun had long since set. Butters hadn’t been sure where they were going to end up going, but this wasn’t something that would have come to mind. 

The lake in front of them wasn’t frozen anymore due to the weather getting slightly warmer. Or at the very least, only parts of it looked to still be frozen. Well, no playing around on ice this time, then. They used to come here all the time during high school when Kenny would help Butters sneak out some nights. Butters was surprised he hadn’t thought of having them come here together before, since his original goal was supposed to be showing Kenny why South Park still felt the same. But, that didn’t matter now.

The two didn’t say anything to each other just yet, and got out of the truck in silence. Butters took in a deep breath of the fresh air, a smile already quickly coming over his face. It was only a bit chilly that night, feeling like the perfect amount of cold. It was already part way through May, so it definitely wasn’t nearly as cold as the previous months had been.

He hadn’t even taken a few steps away from the truck and towards the lake when he felt a sudden cold hit him in the side of his face, causing him to yelp out. He felt snow fall from his cheek and he quickly turned towards where it came from, sending Kenny a playful glare. “Did you just throw a snowball at me???”

Kenny laughed, placing his hands behind his back as he shook his head. “Of course not! Why would I ever do that?~” 

Butters narrowed his eyes, already suddenly crouching down to begin gathering some snow into his hands. “Oh, you asked for it, Ken!”

Kenny was already laughing again, and he suddenly turned on his heel to try and run in the opposite direction. Butters quickly chased after him, unable to help but bubble into laughter himself. He tried throwing the snow in his hand at him from behind but Kenny easily dodged it by ducking. Without warning Kenny suddenly flipped himself around and threw two snowballs in Butters’ direction. Butters hadn’t been exactly prepared, not knowing he was still holding onto more snowballs, so one of them hit him directly in the face and stopped him in his tracks.

“That’s so cold!!!” He quickly whined, wiping the fluffy snow from his face before laughing more. “Just stay still so I can pummel you!~” Butters gathered up more snowballs quickly, and Kenny took the chance he had to suddenly run past him and back towards the truck. When Butters turned back around with a couple balls gathered in his arms, he saw that Kenny was trying to use the truck for cover. Not fair!

“You’ll never take me alive, Leo!” Kenny laughed out, obviously busy gathering up his own ammo of snow. Butters tried to sneak up on him by pressing his feet as gently into the snow as he could, and managed to actually get the jump on him. Kenny was still busy trying to make snowballs, so he hadn’t noticed Butters creeping from around the truck. Butters quickly began to throw snowballs at him from behind, making Kenny gasp and groan out more chuckles.

“Take that, you jerk!! Ah!” It quickly backfired on him when Kenny only returned the fire by turning himself around and throwing his own balls of snow at him. Butters quickly ran around the truck for cover, their laughter continuing to echo around the quiet of the night. 

They continued to shoot only vaguely threatening quips back and forth at each other as they basically chased each other in circles around the truck to dodge each other’s throws. Finally, Butters suddenly went the opposite direction and caught Kenny by surprise. He didn’t have any snowballs on hand though, so he did the next best thing he could think of. “You can’t run now!~” He only gave the small warning before suddenly jumping on him, tackling him onto his back into the snow.

“I surrender! I surrender! Oh, please don’t kill me, sir!” Kenny quickly cried out dramatically, raising his hands in the air from where he was laying on the ground. They continued to laugh for a good minute before they finally began to calm down. Butters didn’t make any move to get off of him yet though, a part of him not wanting to. They were both still trying to catch their breath from all the running around they had been doing, and Butters’ felt himself get pulled into the usual trance he felt come over him when their eyes met. 

Their energy from before quickly began to die down more, and they fell into comfortable silence for a while. He wasn’t exactly sure how long it was they stayed like that, but he only broke whatever spell they must have been in to lower his head onto Kenny’s chest with a sigh. “I missed this so much, Ken.” He spoke up quietly, finally able to find his voice again. 

“I did too, Leo.” Kenny sighs softly, and Butters felt his cheeks heat up when the blonde suddenly pressed his face into his hair. That was almost too close for comfort, but Butters didn’t make any effort to move away from him still. He felt… so comfortable like this. He liked being able to be so close to him. 

“You smell like cologne every time you know we are gonna meet... “ Kenny suddenly mumbled quietly, keeping his face pressed into the soft hair. “Do you do it for me?”

Butters’ heart quickly began to race, even more heat flushing to his face. He was quiet at first, speaking barely above a whisper now. “I… m-maybe I do…” He mumbled, his stomach churning with endless butterflies.

“That makes me feel almost a bit too special, Buttercup…” Kenny spoke gently, and Butters could almost hear the grin in his voice. “You know, I think I’m finally starting to realize something.”

“What?” Butters spoke in a whisper. Kenny pulled back a bit so their eyes could meet again, and Butters swore he was going to die on the spot. Kenny took a gentle hold of one of Butters’ hands.

“The thing that really makes South Park feel like South Park is… you.”

Butters should have stopped breathing then. He should be fully dead. “M-Me?”

“You.” Kenny nodded, his smile one of the softest he thought he’d ever seen. His ocean blue eyes were staring into his very soul, and Butters could already feel electricity sparking through his veins. “You have always been my favorite part of this stupid town… Even if I didn’t know it at first. All these hang out sessions we have, you trying to show me South Park really is the same as it used to be. All they’ve done is remind me how.. much I... “ He seemed to trail off and avert his gaze, as if his nerves suddenly got the better of him. 

No, Butters needed to know what he was about to say. He desperately needed to know. He squeezed onto his hand a little, practically pleading to him with his bright blue eyes as he spoke up softly, “How much you what..?”

Kenny looked back to him again, and his cheeks actually seemed more pink than usual. Butters heart only raced faster. Kenny raised their connected hands a bit with his own set of squeezes to press a small kiss to the back of his hand, meeting his gaze again now before he finally spoke. “All they’ve done is remind me how much I love you.”

Butters could swear his heart just stopped. It had to, that should have killed him. At least, it felt like it should have. But his heart was doing the opposite of stopping, it was beating faster than he thinks it ever had. His body felt light, as if he was floating. Was he dreaming?

“You…” Butters struggled to get any more words out, his voice catching in his throat. He felt like he suddenly forgot how to speak. He _had_ to be dreaming. This couldn’t be real, could it? Maybe he was hearing things? “Can… Can you say that again?” His voice came out barely above a whisper.

“I love you, Leopold.” Kenny didn’t even hesitate, and he refused to let their eyes lose their connection. Butters couldn’t look away. His heart was going crazy inside his chest, and he wasn’t even sure what to do with himself. It was almost a little overwhelming. 

His mind was racing at five hundred miles an hour, and he still struggled to find words. Well, he knew what he wanted to say. _I love you too._ But he couldn’t seem to get them out of his throat. Butters wracked his brain for any way to show he returned the feelings. Finally, his mind decided on something. 

Butters gripped a bit tighter on Kenny’s hand as he moved in closer to him with a tilt of his head. His body seemed to move on it’s own, and before he knew it the last bit of distance between them disappeared while Butters squeezed his eyes shut tightly. The kiss was soft and sweet, but it didn’t last very long. Butters was able to make himself pull away after a short few seconds, and his face felt like it was practically on fire now. He quickly looked away.

“Ah- I- I’m sorry.” Butters quickly stumbled out the apology, finally finding his voice again. “I- uhm- I..”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Kenny’s voice stopped him, and Butters looked back up to meet his eyes again. Kenny had a large smile on his face. “Please, I want to hear you say it, Buttercup…” He suddenly pleaded softly, and Butters swore all the breath was pulled from his body right then.

“I.. I love you too.” Butters finally got the words out, and he couldn’t help but smile brightly now as well. “I always have. I love you so fucking much, Kenny.” 

Kenny’s smile seemed to soften then, and he suddenly laughed a little bit. “Holy shit.”

“What?”

“Sorry, I just. I was so nervous about this.” Kenny suddenly admitted, turning his eyes away a little. “I’m so fucking glad that you… wow.” Butters couldn’t help but giggle a little then, not used to seeing Kenny so flustered like this. It was really cute, actually. 

“Can I kiss you again?” Butters suddenly asked, finding a small bit of confidence flow through him now that everything seemed to be out in the open. “And can we at least get back in the truck first? It’s cold out here.” 

Kenny looked to him again, and a wide grin matching his normal attitude came back over his face. “Hell yeah, of course we can.”

They finally pushed themselves up from the snow, and got themselves settled back into the truck. Butters was finally feeling his nerves get the best of him again, and his heart was still racing twice as fast as it probably should be normally. But, everything seemed to melt away once they were kissing again. All the years of their friendship and feelings they had been hiding away were mixed into the kisses. All the time they equally spent missing each other after they lost contact for those years. It all came pouring out into one solid connection between the two of them, and time seemed to stop completely. 

It had to have been a good 40 minutes they spent like that, and Butters took a breath when they finally pulled away from each other. “Wow…” He breathed out the word quietly, before laughing a little under his breath. “I love you so much, Kenny. I feel like I’m dreaming.”

“I love you too. Way too much, I think.” Kenny replied quietly, keeping their gazes locked together. He pressed a small kiss to his forehead when Butters suddenly yawned, patting his hair a couple times. “Let’s get you home and to bed, huh? It’s pretty late now.”

“Wait- I…” Butters stopped him and turned his gaze away, suddenly pressing his fists together.

“What’s wrong?”

“Are… uh- So, are we.. dating now?” Butters felt the need to ask, despite the fact maybe it was made obvious they would be. He wanted clarification. He needed the closure.

Kenny gave him a softer smile, nodding as he reached for one of his hands, pulling it away from his other fist. “If you want to, yes. Fuck yeah, I want us to.”

Butters returned the smile now, his heart feeling much too warm right then. He leaned forward to press another soft peck to his lips, unable to help himself now that he knew he was allowed to. “Of course I do.” 

Butters never made it home to his own apartment that night. He could have only dreamed of getting to be close to Kenny like this, let alone spend the night with him… in his bed. He wasn’t sure he’d ever felt so safe and comfortable before. So despite Kenny’s bed not being the most comfortable thing in the world, it was plenty comfy enough for him when he got to lay in Kenny’s arms like this. Everything felt so right. He just had to hope he didn’t wake up and find this had all been some crazy dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY THESE IDIOTS CONFESSED  
> amen. dont think this story anywhere close to over tho, no worries :) I still have a lot planned for them  
> plus now we need to get into the ACTUAL bunny? yes. hope yall r excited!!!
> 
> as usual thank u guys sm for the kudos and commentss <3 <3 they mean the world to me


	13. "First" Date

Butters felt like he was living in a dream. A part of him had always felt this could have only been possible in his dreams, so it was still hard to believe it was really real. Him and Kenny didn’t by any means stop their weekly hang outs, and if anything, they spent almost every day together if they were free to do so. When Butters wasn’t stuck at work he’d either be visiting Kenny at his apartment or visiting the coffee shop to see him if he was working. 

They let the news of their relationship spread pretty quickly, and everyone seemed to have the same reaction. ‘ _ Finally.’ _ Butters hadn’t realized just how obvious their feelings had been, and maybe he felt a little silly now for never seeing it from Kenny. But, it didn’t matter now. Their feelings were out in the open now and they were already taking full advantage of it. 

Butters just finished his shift for the day, and was already pulling his phone out and sending him a quick message. He got a response almost immediately.

_ Hey Ken! :D Where are you right now? _

**_Ken <3:_ ** _ hey buttercup im still stuck at work my shift gonna end soon tho _

_ Is Craig there? _

**_Ken <3: _ ** _ yep i can feel his glarin eyes on me righ now actually _

_ Maybe you should stop texting me then? :) _

**_Ken <3: _ ** _ aint gonna ignore u ofc not dont worry craigory dont scare me lol _

_ Well he scares me sometimes. ): Haven’t you seen that guy mad? It’s terrifying!! _

**_Ken <3: _ ** _ youre asking ME if ive seen craig mad? come on butters _

_ But like REALLY mad??? D: _

**_Ken <3: _ ** _ yes leo i have been the literal reason half the time u kno _

_ You have no fear, Ken. _

**_Ken <3: _ ** _ its nothin _

**_Ken <3: _ ** _ do u wanna come over tonight?  _

Butters felt his heart skip when he read over the message. He had still been blindly walking down the street after leaving work but he found himself slowing to a stop as if to ground himself. His heart felt really funny and it threw him off guard. Well, at least now he didn’t have to pretend he  _ wasn’t _ feeling that way about Kenny, huh? He got his feet moving again after a second and went back to typing a response. 

_ Of course! Can I wait at your apartment for you? :3c _

**_Ken <3: _ ** _ sure go right ahead _

_ See you when you get off work, then! Love you!! <3 _

**_Ken <3: _ ** _ love you too leo <3 _

Butters smiled as he read over the message, the words sending warm feelings through him every time. He wasn’t sure how many times the two of them had said those words now, but it still didn’t feel like enough. 

Making only a small trip to his own apartment to shower and change out of his work clothes, Butters was soon already making his way to Kenny’s apartment. He lifted up the doormat to find the spare key, and let himself inside. He quickly made himself comfortable on the couch, laying down and pulling his phone out yet again now. He briefly considered texting Kenny again, but ultimately decided to just not bother him anymore while he was still working. He was sure the shop wasn’t horribly busy right now, though. 

Butters was already making a mental note that he wanted to spend the night tonight, especially since they had a lot of plans made for tomorrow. Butters and Kenny both equally wanted to surprise the other for their first  _ actual _ date, so they came to a compromise. Butters got to plan whatever they did for the first half of the day, and Kenny got to plan what they did for the second half. Both refused to tell the other what they had planned though, which was somewhat unsurprising. 

You could argue that the pair had already been on plenty of dates before, but they weren’t dating back then, so did those really count? Butters shrugged the thoughts off, just happy that they could actually date now. He had been dreaming of being with Kenny since as long as he could remember. Even before Kenny gave him much attention when they were still kids, he still thought Kenny was always so cool. He was so nice, and had a big heart. He could be really funny and silly too, though. Maybe Butters hadn’t known exactly what made him feel a certain way about Kenny right away, when he was a kid, but the older he got and the more Kenny suddenly started hanging out with him it became pretty clear to him. 

He  _ loved _ him.

Butters would do whatever he could to make sure he didn’t lose him, not again. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he ever lost him again… Kenny was stuck with him for life now.

He kept himself occupied by scrolling through useless apps on his phone, only sitting up when he heard the door open up after barely an hour passed. He lit up immediately when he saw Kenny come in, sending him a bright smile.

“Hi Ken!!”

Kenny returned the smile, shutting the door behind him as he made his way over to him. “Hey Butterfly.” He leaned down to press a small kiss to his lips, and Butters felt his stomach flip with a million feelings at once at the small contact. 

“How was work?” Butters scooted himself over to give Kenny space to sit down if he wanted, and Kenny quickly plopped himself down in response. He was still in his work uniform, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Borringgg. Wasn’t bad though, just slow today.” Kenny kept the smile on his face, and suddenly reached over to wrap an arm around Butters’ shoulders, hugging him close. “Just glad it’s over so I get to see you again. Hope you’re excited about tomorrow?”

Butters nodded quickly, his smile seeming to brighten even more. “Of course I am! Even if it wasn’t a date I’d be excited, Ken.” He reminded him, letting his smile soften again. 

“I know, I know… just wanna be sure, that’s all. I’m excited too.” Kenny chuckled a little, suddenly pushing himself back to his feet again. “As much as I’d love to cuddle and all, I need to get changed first. Wait here, yeah?”

Butters only gave a hum and nodded at him, watching Kenny leave for his bedroom. He sighed then, his entire soul already feeling at peace when he got to be with Kenny like this. He hadn’t realized just how much weight was on his shoulders when he had been hiding his feelings, but everything just felt so light now. Everything felt so perfect. 

It didn’t take long for Kenny to return to the living room and take his spot on the couch again, now changed into some sweats and a simple t-shirt. “Miss me?~”

Butters didn’t hesitate to lean against him to playfully wrap his arms around Kenny’s shoulders with a small hum. “Immensely.” 

“Oh yeah? I was only gone for a minute, you know.” 

“I miss you the second you’re gone, though…” Butters responded quietly, keeping his gaze locked with Kenny’s. Kenny’s expression seemed to soften a little, and that alone made Butters’ heart feel a little funny. 

“Good thing I always miss you too then, eh Buttercup?” Kenny raised a hand to brush it through Butters’ hair softly a few times. It sent more warm feelings into Butters’ heart, and he gently rested his head against him in response. 

The two fell into a comfortable silence for a bit, simply enjoying each other’s company while Kenny continued to gently run his fingers through Butters’ hair. Eventually, Kenny spoke up quietly again, 

“Buttersss… Butterbean..~”

“Hm?” Butters hummed out an answer, lifting his head up to look at him again. He was only remotely caught by surprise when Kenny pressed their lips together once he had looked up though, but Butters quickly relaxed as he melted into it. As he slid his eyes shut he thought about how he could easily kiss him forever, if he was physically able to, that is. 

Their lips moved together in a silent dance, perfectly matching each other’s movements. Time seemed to melt away into non-existence, and Butters was soon adjusting his position to sit himself over Kenny’s lap to make the kiss a bit easier for both of them. He kept his arms wrapped loosely around his neck and heard a soft whimper escape his own throat as their tongues soon met. Even so, the kiss remained soft and gentle, all of their collective feelings powering through their mouth’s movements. 

Kenny’s hand gently rubbed along Butters’ back, sending soft shivers along his spine as the sensation mixed with the kiss. They continued on like that for a while, and Butters only pulled himself away a few inches from his face to breathe. 

“No warning, huh?” Butters spoke breathlessly, an amused smile plastered over his red face.

Kenny smiled a bit sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders a little. “Gotta keep you on your toes, ya know?” A little bit of concern seemed to shine through his gaze all of a sudden after that, his eyes practically melting into Butters’ own. “You don’t hate it, do you?”

Butters quickly shook his head, giving him an assuring smile. “Never. Don’t worry about it, Ken.” He leaned forward to press a small kiss to his cheek, as if in an attempt to assure him further. 

Kenny returned the smile, the concern that previously showed in his eyes melting away quickly. He hummed a little in his throat as he ran his hand along Butters’ back again. “Can I kiss you some more, then?”

“Of course..” Butters replied quietly, before resuming the connection they previously had. It would be embarrassing to ever let it be known just how long their night was spent like that. It was all Butters could ask for, though. 

-

“Come on, come on, Ken! You’re such a slow poke!!” Butters’ voice whined out across the parking lot of their first destination. It was the next day, and they had just arrived at Butters’ choice for their “first” date. Butters had all about leapt out of the car and it wasn’t long until he was already by the front door of the building. But, to his dismay, Kenny was taking his sweet time to walk over himself. 

“We have all the time in the world to look at the animals, Butterfly. Don’t worry about it!” Kenny laughed a little, eventually meeting him at the entrance. “See? You gotta learn to be patient.~ I’m super excited too, but you don’t see me practically  _ running _ across the parking lot?” He playfully ruffed Butters’ hair, but Butters only gave him a pout in response. 

“Slow poke!” Butters repeated the insult, sticking his tongue out at him before quickly grabbing his hand and beginning to pull him inside. “Now, come on!” 

“Sooo bossy.” Kenny snickered a little, following him inside. The lady behind the counter at the front greeted them and it wasn’t long before she let them in to see the animals available. 

“Which do you wanna look at first? The dogs or cats?” Butters piped up once they were left alone to look at the animals.

“Dogs, for sure.” Kenny answered quickly, an excited grin already coming over his face. It was no secret Kenny had a love for animals, so Butters had figured a small trip to the local animal shelter would be perfect. It was something they’d never done together too, after all. So it was a bit more special, in his eyes.

“You got it.” Butters nodded in agreement, already leading them along towards the dog kennels. 

Most the dogs would happily come running up to the gate of the small room-sized kennels when they caught sight of the pair. Some of the shyer dogs seemed to stay kept to themselves, but a lot of them would start wagging their tails when they would whistle and coo at them. They ended up spending a good hour or so meeting every single dog they could find, taking time to give each one their own amount of attention. 

Butters poked his fingers through the gate of a few of the kennels, letting the attention-hungry puppies and dogs lick or nibble on his fingers, sending soft giggles from the blonde in response. Kenny was meanwhile focused on a different kennel a couple ways down the current hall they were in. He was knelt down in front of it and seemed really focused on whatever dog he was playing with between the holes of the gate. 

“Find someone you like?” Butters asked happily as he stepped over to him, peering inside the kennel to see the older-looking puppy inside it. It was definitely not full grown, but not a small puppy anymore either. Butters didn’t know the dog breeds insanely well, but it looked like a mix of a Black Labrador and something else. It was practically full black but had a white spot on it’s chest and its front right paw. It looked a little skittish and nervous but seemed to already have a lot of trust in Kenny. It seemed to be Kenny specifically because when Butters had come into view, the dog suddenly backed away towards its bed with a quiet whimper. “Aww.. it’s okay puppy.. You don’t have to be scared of me.” 

Butters reluctantly stepped back away a little to try and give the puppy some ease anyway, deciding to just watch rather than attempt to interact with the puppy himself. It took another moment for the dog to relax again, but it was soon creeping back forward towards Kenny again, sniffing gently at his fingers poking through the bars. 

“He likes me.” Kenny said simply, a soft smile staying over his face. “You think I can go in and play with him?” He asked it as if he was a child asking a parent permission, glancing at Butters with a small pout.

Butters gave him a smile, quickly nodding. “I don’t see why not. We just gotta ask if we can see him. Here, wait here and I’ll go find someone, okay?” Kenny gave him a nod before turning his attention to the dog again. Butters quickly headed back towards the entrance, luckily soon running into a volunteer who was working there. He briefly explained to them that he wanted to play with one of the dogs they saw, and they quickly agreed to let them take the puppy to a room specifically for playing with the dogs to get a feel for them before deciding if they would be adopted. 

They didn’t necessarily plan on adopting any pets today, but if Kenny wanted to play with the dog, he saw nothing wrong with it. It wasn’t long until them and the puppy were taken to the playroom, which was a decently big room filled with various toys and fake grass over the floor. The volunteer left them alone to play with the puppy, able to keep an eye on everything through a window to make sure nothing bad happened to the animals when people played with them. 

Butters kept his distance, still not wanting to scare the puppy too much. He seemed a bit on edge now from being taken from his kennel, but it didn’t take long for him to warm up and show some normal puppy behavior with Kenny. 

Kenny had himself sat in the middle of the room, egging the puppy on to play tug of war with a small piece of rope. The puppy seemed already pretty strong for his size, almost tugging Kenny a bit with his attempts to tug the rope from him, making Kenny laugh occasionally at the way the dog’s head would wildly shake while he did so. 

Soon enough Kenny let go of the rope, allowing the dog to suddenly fall back in surprise. The puppy seemed to finally get mostly comfortable though, so instead of getting scared he quickly got his footing back and suddenly launched himself towards Kenny while keeping the rope in his mouth. Kenny laughed as the puppy climbed on his lap, nudging his nose against his face as if trying to get him to grab the rope again. 

Butters watched them with a soft smile, very much enjoying the sight. Seeing Kenny like this was  _ soo _ cute. He quickly decided that this had been such a good idea to bring them here. 

“What would you name him?” Butters suddenly piped up after a couple minutes, genuinely feeling curious. 

Kenny gave a hum of thought as he continued to pet and play with the puppy in front of him. He was ruffling the dog’s ears as he decided on something relatively quickly. “Samson.”

“Samson?”

“Yep. He feels like a Samson. I could call him Sammy!” He looked up to Butters, giving him a bright grin. “I don’t have room for a puppy right now, but if I did, I’d totally take this little guy home with me.”

“I’m sure you would. He seems to really like you!” 

Kenny smiled even brighter at that, before turning his attention back down to the dog. He tossed a ball across the room, watching as the puppy quickly went after it and brought it back to him. “Aww you are such a smart puppy, Sammy!” He gave the dog some scratches between his ears, chuckling a little to himself.  Kenny played with the puppy for another couple minutes until he finally decided they could move on, plus he didn’t wanna keep the playroom held up for too long. He had seen a couple other people looking at the dogs as well, so maybe it was just considerate to consider they would wanna play with the dogs too. 

They inevitably let the puppy be taken back to its kennel after Kenny gave him a quick goodbye in the form of some more head rubs. Kenny turned to Butters once the puppy was gone, smiling at him. 

“You wanna look at the cats now?” 

Butters’ eyes quickly lit up and he nodded eagerly, practically hopping in place in excitement. “Yes!! I do!” 

“Well, let’s go see the kitties then, eh?” Kenny grinned, grabbing one of Butters’ hands to begin leading them towards the room meant specifically for cats. 

Butters gasped out loud as soon as they entered the room, seeing the various colorful kitties inside the rows of kennels. They were relatively small kennels, but they gave the cats enough room to walk around at least. They also had nice comfy beds and toys like the dog kennels did. A few of the cats immediately started crying towards him when he got near, and Butters felt like he would combust from the cuteness. He had a soft spot for cats, but he never got to have one growing up. 

Butters let go of Kenny’s hand as he took his time meeting every single cat in the room, petting them through the bars of their kennels if they allowed him to, and going on and on about how cute they were every single time. 

Similar to Kenny, Butters soon found himself attached to a specific animal out of the ones to choose from. It was a full grown kitty, but the information in front of the kennel told him the cat was only barely over a year old. It was Maine Coon that was a pure mix of different greys in random patterns. It had a light colored face and a VERY loud mouth. It meowed almost continuously at Butters until he started petting the cat through the bars, in which it quickly began to purr loudly. 

Butters spent a good amount of time with the cat while Kenny continued to look at all the other kitties. After giving the cat plenty of attention, Butters spoke up happily,

“I love this one. It says her name is Bubbles!” 

Kenny turned his gaze back towards him before stepping over, peering into the kennel to see the long haired kitty. “Oh, she’s cute. Bubbles is her name?”

“Yeah! Isn’t that cute??” Butters turned towards him with an excited smile, but very quickly turned back to the cat again, still scratching under her chin with his finger. “She’s so cute.”

“Yeah, she's super adorable, Butterbean. Almost as adorable as you.~” Kenny purred out the words, giving Butters a smug smile when his face quickly grew red at the compliment. Butters quickly tried to brush it off and continue on the subject of the cat. 

“I wish I could take her home.. But I can’t have a cat right now. It’s dumb our apartments don’t let us have pets.” He pouted.

“Yeah, it does kinda stink. One day we could have pets, maybe? But not yet, I suppose.” Kenny mused, agreeing with him. Butters gave a quick glance to the clock in the room, humming a little in thought. 

“It’s almost three already, do you wanna head out? We can start whatever you had planned for us, if you want?”

Kenny seemed to brighten up at that, and he nodded. “Hell yeah, that sounds good to me. I think we’ve seen all the animals we can here.” Their hands were connected yet again, and Kenny began to lead them out towards the exit. “Thanks for this, Leo. I had a lot of fun. I love you.”

“I love you too, Ken! I’m glad you had fun… I did too!” Butters beamed at the compliment, very pleased that Kenny enjoyed his half of the date. Now he was excited to see what Kenny had planned for them.

-

Kenny had them take a quick trip back to Kenny’s apartment to grab some stuff he apparently needed for his half of their date night. He didn’t let Butters see whatever it was he grabbed, but Kenny came back out to the car with the same bag he used during their amusement park trip in his hands. Butters spared him from any questions, knowing he wouldn’t tell him what was planned regardless. 

Kenny soon started the drive, and it wasn’t long until they pulled up to the familiar lake yet again, although in daylight this time. Butters felt his heart race a little as he immediately remembered what occurred the last time they were here. 

“What have you planned for us here, Ken?” He decided to ask, hoping to finally know what Kenny was planning. Kenny gave him a grin as he pushed his door open.

“You hungry?”

Butters blinked, a smile quickly coming over his face as he began to understand. “I am, yeah. You sure do love feeding me, don’t you, Ken?”

“Food is pretty great, ya know? Just like you.~” The blonde laughed a little when he successfully got Butters all flustered again. “Come on, let’s find a good spot, kay?” 

Nodding, Butters pushed himself out of the truck and followed along with Kenny until they found a spot that was thankfully not as snowy as the rest of the area. Kenny set his bag down into some snow to pull out a decently sized blanket and place it onto the ground. He motioned a hand towards it with another large smile. “Please, take your seat, your majesty.” 

“Why, thank you.” Butters responded playfully, smiling in return as he sat himself down on the soft surface. 

It wasn’t long before Kenny had a couple containers laid out in front of them. He opened them up one by one, revealing a few different foods prepared for them. Some sandwiches, a mix of different vegetables and fruits like baby carrots, cucumbers, grapes, etc that were in their own separate container, a couple bags of chips to choose from, and a whole apple pie that had been carefully wrapped and thankfully hadn’t gotten ruined in his bag. 

Butters couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as he looked over the set up, turning towards Kenny as he finally sat down with him. He didn’t hesitate to quickly wrap his arms around him once he was sat with him, speaking excitedly,

“This is so nice, Ken!! I love it so much! Thank you!” 

Kenny wrapped his arms back around him in response, chuckling a little to himself before replying, “It’s no problem, Leo. I’m glad you like it.” He pulled from the hug, placing a soft kiss to Butters’ forehead. “Now let's eat up! We're gonna be here for a while, so it’s no rush, though.” 

Butters gave him a nod, already quickly turning his attention to the food now. As per usual, the two fell into small talk as they munched away at their food. They almost did more talking than eating, so it actually took them quite a while to get through a good amount of the food. It actually was nearly going to start getting dark by the time they both decided they were full enough off the food.

Kenny was given plenty of compliments on his pie and sandwiches, as well as the effort he made to set this all up to begin with. Butters still didn’t regret his own choice for their first date, but he almost felt like Kenny’s choice meant a lot more than his own choice did. He tried to brush the thought off, however, deciding it’d be best to not compare them like that. All that mattered was that they were spending time together, after all.

“I have something else planned, and I think it’s just about time for it.” Kenny suddenly spoke up after he got finished putting away their uneaten food back into his bag. He fished through the bag for another moment, soon pulling out two jars, sending Butters a bright grin when he showed them to him. “Wanna guess what these are for?”

“Hmmm…” Butters gave a hum of thought, tilting his head and raising a hand to his chin as he looked at the jars. He eventually shook his head, shrugging his shoulders. “I got no idea, Ken.”

“I’ll give you a hint. It’s for catching what rhymes wiiith.. Butterflies!~” Kenny announced happily, handing Butters one of the jars. 

Butters remained quiet for a moment in thought, before finally understanding and brightening up when it came over him. “Fireflies??” He quickly smiled brighter, suddenly pushing himself to his feet in excitement. “Oh, that sounds so fun, Ken!!"

Laughing a little at the reaction, Kenny nodded and pushed himself to his feet shortly after. “I thought so too, Buttercup. I’m glad you think so too.” There was already a sign of the sun beginning it’s slow descent into the sky, and it wasn’t too long before the small blips of light began to show up around them. It was only a few at first, but more and more seemed to come out. It was summer now, so there were much more of them than there were in the winter. 

Butters was entranced by the pretty sight at first, but when he saw Kenny already attempting to catch some in his jar, Butters got himself moving to do the same. He almost made it some kind of competition in his head to see who would catch the most fireflies. 

It ended up a lot harder to catch them than he had anticipated, but Kenny seemed to have the same amount of trouble. After only an hour of trying to catch them, already the fireflies seemed to be dispersing as it got darker. They both ended up with a decent amount of the glowing bugs in their jars, and they eventually gave up trying to hunt for more. 

They took a seat back on their blanket again, still giggling a little together from the running around they had been doing. Butters held his jar close to his face, watching the bright lights flicker from the bugs trapped inside. It was already dark now, so the lights from them glowed against his face and hands. He glanced at Kenny after a moment, seeing him looking into his own jar as well. The way the lights from the bugs bounced around his face made Butters feel warm. Kenny looked super content, and honestly Butters was feeling the same. 

Kenny soon turned to look at him too, their eyes meeting. Before they had started dating, Butters would have turned away in an attempt to ignore the feelings it gave him. But he allowed their eyes to glue together with no fight, a soft smile coming over his face.

“This was so fun, Ken.”

Kenny nodded, suddenly laying himself down on the blanket and setting his jar next to him. “It’s been super fun, Butterfly. Hey, just lay here with me for a while?”

Butters saw no reason to argue, so he laid himself down next to him, setting his own jar next to him as well. Kenny turned his gaze to the sky, but Butters kept his eyes on Kenny at first, taking in all the details of his face for the hundredth time in his life. 

“You can see the stars so well out here. No bright lights to ruin them.” 

Hearing his comment, Butters finally turned his attention up to the sky now, widening his eyes somewhat when he saw just what Kenny meant. He could see so many of the stars, many of them he was sure he wasn’t able to see when they were in town. They were beautiful. 

“Wow..” 

“Yeah. I love coming out here just to see the stars. It’s nice to get away from everything sometimes.” Kenny commented calmly. Butters’ eyes continued looking over all the bright stars above them, his smile softening a bit now. 

“That’s so cool, Kenny. You’re so cool.” The words slipped out without him thinking, and he mentally slapped himself for saying something so cliche and dumb. He wasn’t lying, though. He really thought Kenny was cool. Super cool, actually. 

“Well, thanks Leo… You’re super cool too.” 

They fell into mostly silence for a while, just taking in the sight above them. Soon enough he heard Kenny shift next to him, making Butters turn his head towards him. Kenny was facing him now. 

“What is it, Ken?”

Kenny seemed hesitant, his eyes seemingly searching into his very soul again. It tore Butters apart when he would do that. Kenny was quiet for a moment before he spoke up,

“You’re beautiful, Leopold. I love you. I’m.. really happy, you know?”

Butters’ cheeks quickly flushed red, but he felt thankful the darkness probably helped hide it. He struggled to think of a response, turning his gaze away a little in embarrassment. 

“I love you too, Ken.. a whole lot. You’re really pretty too. R-Really, really pretty.” Kenny chuckled a little at that, and suddenly he was scooting himself close to him to wrap an arm across his hip.

“You are sooo cute. I can’t believe this is real.”

“Me either…”

Their eyes met again, much closer together now that they were basically cuddling at this point. They fell into their comfortable silence, lost in each other’s gazes for an amount of time that Butters’ wasn’t sure of. Before he even knew it, they naturally closed their distance. Their kisses were similar to the ones they had the previous night, but something felt a bit different about them this time. 

It was just as soft and gentle as all the other times, but it almost felt like there was even more emotion mixed into it. It was like they desperately wanted to show each other just how much they loved the other, and it was working. 

Butters trusted Kenny with everything he had. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg thank you guys SO MUCH for all the nice comments on the last chapter ;w; <3 it means the worldd to me as always!! I'm soo excited for these upcoming chapters I have planned uwu it's fun being able to write them being actually gay!!!! FOR REAL THIS TIME!! blessed content


	14. Laser Tag

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg so sorry for the long wait on this one I had such a hard time writing this one for some reason??? I'm super excited for the next chapters though I've been waiting to write them for so long owo so hopefully I'll have those out much quicker!! enjoy!

“A whole week? Well, gee, that’s great, Tweek!! I’m sure it’ll be well needed.” Butters spoke happily towards the phone in his hands from where he was laying lazily on his couch. Tweek was in the video on the screen in his hands, but he was clearly focused on something else and not on the phone. Butters made sure to keep himself in frame regardless, however. 

_ “Yeah! Craig got everything all planned… I’m excited. Kenny might have to work a bit more hours than usual, but I’ll make sure he still has Sunday off for you guys.”  _ Tweek finally turned his attention back towards the camera.

Butters smiled a bit brighter at that, nodding. “That sounds good to me! I’m sure Kenny won’t mind. I hope you guys have fun!” 

“Buuutercuuup!~” Kenny’s voice suddenly rang out from somewhere behind him, and as soon as Butters tilted his head back against the arm of the couch to look behind him, Kenny’s face was suddenly hovering above his. 

“Hiya Ken!” Butters quickly happily greeted him once their eyes met, smiling brightly up at him. 

_ “Hi Kenny!”  _ Tweek’s voice rang out from the phone in Butters’ hand, and Kenny only briefly looked towards it with a grin. 

“Sup, Tweekers.” Kenny quickly turned his attention back down to Butters, placing a small kiss to his lips. “Hey, Kyle and Stan are going to one of those joint arcade laser tag things this weekend. They were wondering if we wanted to come. You up for it?”

Butters’ smile brightened even more, and he quickly nodded. “Of course I am, Ken!! That sounds so fun!”

Kenny grinned a bit wider at the response, although Butters was sure he wasn’t expecting a no anyway. The dirty blonde leaned down and let their lips meet once more quickly before he pulled back away. “I’ll be sure to let them know then.” And with that he turned and left to doing whatever he had been before that. Butters’ turned his attention back to the phone in his hands.

“ _ You guys are almost worse than me and Craig, Jesus Christ.”  _ Tweek suddenly teased Butters’ through the phone, a playful look of disgust pulled over his face. Butters felt his face heat up a bit in embarrassment, but he quickly was rolling his eyes. 

“You try keeping your feelings to yourself for thirteen years.” Butters quickly countered the teasing, before laughing a little. “I’m so sorry you had to see our lips touch! I didn’t realize that was too risque for you, Tweek.” He tried to turn the teasing right back around on his friend, and Tweek groaned. 

“ _ Oh hush. It’s both your own faults for being so blind. We all knew _ .” Tweek started to laugh now, but he spared Butters by dropping the topic and moving on again. “ _ Let me know how your fun date goes. I’ll be sure to send pictures when w-” _

_ “Tweek! Tweek, you have to come look at Stripe!”  _ Craig’s uncharacteristically excited voice rang out in the background, and Tweek was suddenly looking up from his phone.  _ “It’s soo cute. Come on, hurry!!” _

Tweek laughs a little, nodding as he seemed to push himself to his feet. “ _ Okay, okay I’m coming.”  _ He turned his face back towards the camera with a smile. “ _ I’ll talk to you later, Butters.” _

“Bye Tweek!” Butters grinned, giving a small wave into the camera before watching Tweek disappear as the call was ended. He let out a soft sigh as he sat himself up and locked his phone. He gave a small stretch as he turned and pushed himself up onto his feet. Butters immediately began to search the small apartment for whatever Kenny had been keeping himself up to. It only took a couple steps before he caught sight of him at his dining table. 

A soft smile came over his face as he stepped over and quietly wrapped his arms over his shoulders from behind, glancing down towards the table over his shoulder. “Whatcha doing, Ken?”

There were a couple papers in front of Kenny, most of them filled with a bunch of random doodles. But he was currently working on a page that had one big drawing on it. It looked like he was trying to draw a possum, but it was kinda rough. Kenny didn’t draw super often, but he had mentioned that he was trying to get more into practice since he found it fun. Butters had always been pretty artistic, and it was clear seeing Butters draw so much growing up had made Kenny want to learn too. 

“I’m trying to draw this but something about it isn’t coming out right…” He sighs, clearly a little frustrated. “This shit is so hard.”

Butters hummed in thought, looking over the drawing for a few moments before he suddenly spoke up gently. He reached a hand down to point towards different parts of the drawing. “This front leg should be a bit shorter- possum legs aren’t that long. Also the nose should be a bit smaller too… Maybe try that?” He tried to advise. 

With a tilt of his head, Kenny nodded and quickly got to work adjusting the drawing best he could. Butters could admit it was still a little rough, but it wasn’t at all horrible. He felt pleased when his critique seemed to actually fix whatever looked wrong, because Kenny suddenly lit up.

“That was it!!! Thanks, Butterfly.” Kenny turned his head to press a small kiss to Butters’ cheek, and Butters smiled a bit brighter in response. 

“It looks great, Ken. You’ve been getting so good!!” 

Kenny’s cheeks tinted a bit more pink at the compliment, and Butters quickly responded by pressing his own kiss to Kenny’s cheek. His cheeks only grew even more red. “Well, thanks, Leo. I’ve been trying. I don’t know how you make such good art all the time.” 

“Practice.” Butters quickly reminded him before finally standing back up away from him. “Are you hungry?”

At the question, Kenny quickly got up to his feet. “Oh, absolutely.” 

-

Butters kept tight hold of Kenny’s hand as the group walked up to the large building fitted with colorful lettering on the front. It was much bigger than he had anticipated it being, but that only made him more excited. When they all stepped inside, his excitement only continued to rise. Already various colorful and bright arcade machines caught his eyes. 

It wasn’t until they all got up to the counter to pay for their entry into the place that he glanced around and noticed just how much other stuff it had to offer as well. There was a bowling alley, karaoke, and laser tag. They even had a whole cafe! It felt like he was being transported back to being a kid again, and he could hardly handle his excitement. 

“You are bouncing there, Buttercup. Excited?” Kenny spoke up teasingly next to him. Butters quickly forced his body to a stop as he looked at him, not having realized he had been slightly bouncing in place to begin with. 

“Ah- a little, yeah!” 

“Hmm, they have a good package that includes everything except bowling. Is that okay with you guys?” Kyle suddenly asked, his eyes still scanning over the options on the signs above the counter. 

“That’s fine with me!” Butters quickly answered happily. Bowling sounded fun, but he was sure they’d spend plenty of time doing everything else anyway. 

“S’fine with me, too.” Kenny gave his input as well. 

“Alright, I’m paying for all of us so don’t worry about it.” Kyle decided to add as he pulled out his wallet. Butters opened his mouth to argue but Stan and Kenny quickly shook their heads at him, making him quickly shut it again. He’d trust their judgement on that one. 

It wasn’t long before they all got one little arm band to prove they paid to be there, as well as cards to use on the arcade machines, and they were walking away from the counter. 

“Sooo what do we wanna do first?” Stan spoke up now, glancing between the three of them. 

Kenny let out a hum of thought. He quickly was grinning though, and pulled Butters along with him, motioning for the other two to follow. “I think we could mess around in the arcade first. I’m already itching to try some of these games out.”

“Yes sir.” Stan playfully answered, the group being essentially forced to follow after Kenny towards the large selection of machines. 

Butters was already quickly forcing Kenny to a stop as he quickly caught his attention to one of the claw machines they passed by. It was filled with cute, small stuffed animals of various brands, colors and species. He pointed into the glass case with his free hand excitedly. 

“Look how cute these are!! I wanna try, I wanna try!” Butters practically bounced in place as he let go of Kenny’s hand so he could pull the arcade card he got back out of his pocket, already swiping it into the machine to bring it to life.

“Well, you guys have fun with that. We are gonna head for the skee-ball.” Kyle quickly informed the two, but Butters was already too focused on moving the claw in the machine to hear him. Kenny quickly answered for the both of them.

“Gotcha. I’m sure we’ll run into ya guys again while we are trying out the games. I wanna kick both your asses at guitar hero if they have it here, got it?” Kenny spoke through a large grin, and it made both Stan and Kyle chuckle. 

“If you think you can. You got it, dude.” Stan teased his friend before the two disappeared into the sea of arcade games, and Kenny was turning his attention back to the blonde next to him when he suddenly whined in disappointment. 

“These machines always feel impossible… No fair.” Butters pouted, watching the claw return to it’s starting position after it failed to pick up the toy he wanted, but it was swiftly replaced with a look of determination. He had his eyes on a Hello Kitty plushie he spotted in the back of the machine. “I can get it.”

Kenny leaned himself against the side of the machine, peering into the glass. “I know you can, Buttercup.”

Butters gave it two more attempts, but eventually sighed with defeat when he still couldn’t manage to get the claw to grab hold of the plush. He didn’t wanna use up all the credit on his card just on this dumb claw machine, so he turned to Kenny now. “Wanna try some other games now?”

“Hold up. You didn’t even let me try.” Kenny quickly countered. He gave him a bright smile as he pushed himself off of the machine to gently push Butters aside while he pulled out his own card. Butters quickly returned the smile, and took the spot Kenny had been standing at previously. 

He watched the claw move with nervous eyes, instinctively pressing his fists together in anticipation. He groaned when it inevitably didn’t grab the plush, but Kenny suddenly gave him a larger grin. 

“Wanna see something cool?”

“Well, sure, Ken! What’re you gonna do?” Butters tilted his head curiously, and he only grew more curious when Kenny suddenly began to glance around. He seemed to be looking to make sure no one was looking. 

“They must have this shit rigged. Watch this.” Kenny sent him another sly grin before he suddenly began to mess with the buttons of the machine. Butters watched curiously, blinking in surprise when the machine came back to life again despite Kenny not using his card to pay for it. Soon enough, he got the claw moving and hovered it back over the plush again. When the claw fell over the toy, it got a good grip on it this time, much stronger than whatever strength it had previously, and easily lifted the toy up. 

Butters' eyes quickly lit up and a smile came over his face as he watched the toy be moved over and soon dropped into the bucket. Kenny quickly fished it out and handed it to the blonde. Butters was awestruck, staring down at the small plush with excitement. He quickly looked back up to Kenny though, hugging the toy close. 

“How did you do that??”

Kenny chuckled a little, shrugging as he shoved his hands into his pockets. “Easy. Once you know how to factory reset these things, it’s pretty easy to get anything you want out of them.” He gave him a wink before reaching a hand up to briefly ruffle Butters’ hair, and walking past him. “Come on, let’s meet back up with Ky and Stan, eh?”

“Thank you, Kenny!” Butters quickly made sure to say so as he followed after him. 

It didn’t take them long to find the skee-ball machines, and thankfully Stan and Kyle were still there. Unsurprisingly, they seemed to be in an argument, again. Kenny gave a sigh as they came up behind them. 

“I didn’t mean to! Chill, dude.” Stan groaned, not even looking in Kyle’s direction as he went and threw one of the balls down the machine, successfully getting it into a 40 point slot. 

“How do you manage to get your ball over into my side!” Kyle’s nagging voice rang out in Stan’s direction. It was clear the two hadn’t noticed the other group’s arrival yet, so Kenny cleared his throat. They both quickly looked towards them.

“Oh! Hey Kenny!” Stan greeted him happily, and Kyle rolled his eyes at the quick change in attitude. 

Kenny crossed his arms, glancing between the two of them. “Can’t you guys go more than 5 minutes without arguing?” Kyle opened his mouth to say something, but Kenny quickly interrupted him, “Doesn’t matter. Come on, let’s see if they got a Guitar Hero, yeah?”

“Wait wait wait, I still have two more balls left.” Stan quickly stopped them, turning back around and rolling another ball down. He got it into the 20 point slot, and then missed on the second try. He sighed in disappointment, but reluctantly turned back around to face the group. “Alright, we can go now.”

The group searched around the arcade for a short amount of time, and luckily, they soon found what they were looking for. There was already a kid playing with one of the guitars, so they had to wait their turn, but it looked like he was almost done anyway.

“Ready to get your ass kicked?” Kenny sniped up at the pair, raising a brow with a snarky grin. Kyle scoffed, and Stan actually laughed a little. 

“I’m not sure you remember what you’re up against, Ken.” Kyle reminded him, sending him his own grin. “You forgot how good we are at this?”

“Who says you aren’t a bit rusty now? I’m pretty damn good too, ya know?” 

Butters nodded a few times, speaking up again finally. “It’s true! I’ve watched him play! He’s really good at it!” 

Kenny smiled a bit softer, glancing in Butters’ direction. “Thanks, Buttercup.”

The kid finally finished up with the machine, moving on to play another game. Kenny stepped up to the machine, picking up the first guitar and glancing toward his two friends. “Who’s ass am I kicking first?”

Stan quickly grabbed the second guitar before Kyle could, grinning widely with determination. “I got it. You’re dead, Kenny!” 

“Impossible, actually.” Kenny jokes, although it clearly went over everyone’s head. Butters didn’t enjoy the joke, however, knowing it wasn’t entirely a joke. He brushed it off however, watching from the side as they both swiped their cards and got the game started. They quickly agreed on a song, and started playing. They actually stayed pretty even for most of it, matching each other’s skills. Stan got a better score halfway through, but fumbled near the end. This allowed Kenny to quickly catch up, and even surpass Stan in points. Kenny cheered in victory when he ended with more points, pointing in Stan’s direction.

“Hah! In your face, Stanley!” Stan quickly groaned, shaking his head as he removed the strap from his shoulder. He handed the guitar to Kyle now, stepping aside next to Butters.

“Whatever. I would of won if I didn’t fuck up that one part, and you know it!”

Kyle laughs a little, pulling the strap over his shoulder with a determined smile. “Don’t worry, Stan. I’ll be sure to win this for both of us.”

“Oh yeah?” Kenny raised a brow, smiling in amusement. He went to swipe his card again, and took hold of the guitar still hanging over his shoulder. “We’ll just see about that.”

“You got this, Ken!” Butters happily cheered him on when they hit play.

Kyle actually put up even more of a fight than Stan had, and it seemed like if either of them made any slip up, they’d fall behind. The two both equally didn’t miss any notes for a majority of the song, but Kenny slipped up a single note towards the end. Kyle continued on flawlessly, not missing a single note and ending up with a full combo. Kyle and Stan shared cheers of victory while Butters and Kenny sighed in defeat. 

“Alright, you got me there. Damn, if I didn’t miss that note we would have tied. But I beat Stan so therefore I would have won, yeah?” Kenny suggested with a chuckle.

Stan quickly shook his head. “No that wouldn’t be fair! Maybe Butters should try too!!” 

Butters blinked at the suggestion, shaking his head a few times as he waved his hands around in front of him. “Ah- no no! I’m horrible at this thing, I couldn’t.”

“Aww, come on Buttercup. Wanna play against me?” Kenny piped up, giving Butters an assuring smile that quickly melted right into Butters’ soul. He stuttered a bit, trying to find words but inevitably he sighs again. He stepped forward, taking the guitar from Kyle and nervously placing his fingers over the buttons. He has tried playing this a couple times in Kenny’s apartment, but he could barely play anything higher than the medium difficulty. The other three played at the top difficulties with ease, though. It was so intimidating. 

Kenny wordlessly changed the difficulty to medium after they both swiped their cards into the machine. Butters felt his heart warm up a little at the sight, appreciating the fact he hadn’t even had to say anything about it. They quickly agreed on a song, and got to playing. Butters fumbled with the buttons, trying his best to not miss any notes. He did miss some though. Too many of them, arguably. Kenny was playing with ease, but that was a bit unsurprising. This difficulty was miles easier than what he normally played at. 

Butters ended with much less points than Kenny, considering Kenny didn’t miss a single note, and Butters had to have missed at least a third of them. He refused to let it get to him though, he wasn’t much of a sore loser. It just wasn’t in him to be. So he only whined in defeat, but quickly pulled a smile over his face as he turned to Kenny. “That was fun! I don’t know how you guys can keep up with everything on this… It’s so hard!”

“Practice.” Kenny gave him a large grin, repeating the exact same thing Butters told him earlier about art. Butters blushed a bit at the obvious parallel, and put the guitar back into the slots holding it in place. 

“I guess that’s fair, Ken.” Butters agreed with him, brightening his smile even more as he grabbed one of his hands again. He turned his attention to the other two, tilting his head a bit. “Do we wanna try out the other games now?”

“Fuck yeah, dude!” Kyle nodded in agreement.

-

The group spent a good two hours just playing every single game they could get their hands on. That is, until their cards all ran out of credit. So, they moved on to grab some food from the cafe next. It was a big buffet, offering many different choices from pizza to desserts.

They didn’t spend too long eating though, eager to move on to the other things they had planned. Butters happily suggested they play laser tag next, since he was admittedly most excited for that. The other three all agreed just as eagerly. 

So, they all immediately headed for the laser tag area, and after only 5 minutes of waiting for the current group to finish, they were let inside. The employee working there quickly gave them the usual run down of the rules and they were then let into the next room. The room was lined with all the vests designed for the game along the walls. Stan and Kenny ended up on the purple team, and Butters and Kyle ended up on the yellow team. 

“I hope you’re ready to lose! I’m really good at this!” Butters quickly sniped at the two, a determined grin spread over his face.

Kenny raised a brow at the comment, laughing a little as he leaned forward towards him. “Oh yeah? I guess that makes two of us. You better watch out, Leo.”

“We are gonna wipe the floor with you guys!” Stan added into the pre-game shit talk, and Kyle quickly scoffed in response.

“As if! Our team is going to win for sure!!” 

The four had one last stare down before the employee was talking again, forcing their attention there instead. He briefly refreshed them on the rules, and like that, the door was opened and they were allowed out into the arena to begin the game. There was a timer set for 15 minutes, and Butters was prepared to take it to his full advantage. 

They had a brief period of immunity while all the participants spread out across the two story tall arena. Butters stayed on the first floor initially and kept his eyes peeled for any sight of the purple lights indicating the enemy team. He made good use of the various corners and cover to his advantage, and actually got a good few shots in on some of the opposite team. He was only remotely caught off guard when Kenny suddenly came into his view. It was dark, but he could tell it was him almost immediately. He immediately aimed his gun towards him but Kenny suddenly cornered him before he actually pulled the trigger. It made him refrain from shooting just yet. 

He had been taking cover behind one of the walls just under the ramp that leads up to the second floor of the arena, and it kept them mostly sheltered from any prying eyes. Kenny didn’t speak a word as he gently pushed Butters’ back up against the wall, making Butters swallow a little nervously. His face quickly heated up at the closeness they suddenly had and as Kenny leaned in towards him…

“You are too easy, Buttercup.~” Kenny finally spoke up just before their lips would have connected, and Butters felt vibration rumble through his chest and Kenny quickly backed off of him. “Thanks for the easy kill!~”

Butters stood in shock for a moment, before realization fell over him. What a cheater! “That’s not fair!!!” Butters quickly called out to him, but Kenny was already running away while in a fit of pleased laughter. 

What a jerk! Butters pouted, narrowing his eyes as he watched him run away. He would definitely have to get back at him… He continued on searching for enemies to shoot, but wracked his brain for any way to fool Kenny into letting him shoot him. He couldn’t by any means pull the same shit Kenny had, but… 

He had a perfect idea.

He only got shot a couple times, getting way more of his own shots in than the shots he was taking. He was a master of using the coverings and corners to his advantage. He made his way up to the second floor, and blinked when he caught sight of Stan and Kenny together. Butters waited behind some cover for Stan to inevitably leave back down to the first floor and carefully snuck his way behind Kenny. But when he pretty quickly noticed him there, Butters “tripped” to the floor. Kenny quickly lowered his gun and knelt down next to him in worry as Butters forced out a couple ‘ows’ for extra effect. 

“Are you okay, Buttercup?” 

“I think so-- yeah, absolutely.” Butters lifted his head to send him a bright smile, and the vest Kenny was wearing was now blinking to show he had been hit. Butters pushed himself to his feet swiftly and gave Kenny a small salute with two fingers. “Thank  _ you _ for the easy kill, Ken!” He gave a small giggle and turned on his heel, rushing off back towards the ramp to head back to the first floor. He heard Kenny groan in annoyance behind him, and it only made Butters laugh even more. 

The game only lasted for another 5 minutes after that, and when they finally exited back out into the main area to see the scores, Butters and Kyle cheered. Butters was way more excited about it, since he always got the most points out of everyone on his team. 

“See! I told you I was good at it!!” Butters bounced with excitement, looking towards the other two with a wide smile. Stan sighs.   
“Damn, Butters, you weren’t kidding.” Kenny laughs a little, his eyes glued up on the screen. Kenny only had half the points Butters did, but it didn’t seem to phase him very much. Instead, he turned to Butters and ruffled his hair yet again before pressing a small kiss to his cheek. “Great job, Butterfly."

Butters quickly blushed, turning his gaze away with an awkward giggle. “T-Thanks, Ken.” 

“Sooo… karaoke next?” Kyle spoke up next, and the other three quickly agreed. They all headed towards the counter to rent out one of the karaoke rooms, and got it booked for an hour. They spent the whole time taking turns choosing songs and singing solos and duets in different variations. 

Butters was quietly giggling as he leaned against Kenny on one of the couches in the room, watching and listening to Kyle and Stan sing some song the two of them seemed to really enjoy. Butters had never heard it before, but he was enjoying the show regardless. They all continued with the good energy for the rest of their time there, but it was already dark by the time they finally finished up.

They gave laser tag one more go, at Butters’ request, before they finally began to head for the exit. Butters was admittedly exhausted, but that was pretty normal once it got late like this. Especially when he’d been running around the whole time. He kept his Hello Kitty plush hugged close to his chest with one arm, while he kept a hand tightly wrapped onto Kenny’s hand as they walked out of the building. They made quick goodbyes to Kyle and Stan who headed for their own car, before getting themselves into Kenny’s truck. 

“Did ya have fun?” Kenny spoke up once they got settled into the truck, turning the key to bring it to life.

Butters was relaxed into his seat, practically leaning himself against the door due to how tired he was feeling. He had both his arms hugged tightly onto the plush, smiling at Kenny with a small nod. “Of course I did, Ken! I’m still sore about what you pulled during the laser tag though…” He gave him a pout.

Kenny laughed a little as he began to drive them out of the parking lot, shaking his head. “Aw, come on. If I give you plenty of kisses when we get home, will that make up for it?”

“I don’t knowww… it’s gonna take a good amount of kisses to make it up to me, you know?”

“Well, I can give you  _ all _ the kisses you want, Buttercup. Promise.”

Butters smiled at the promise, his heart feeling extra warm right then. He carefully leaned over to press a kiss to his cheek, before sinking back into his seat again. “I guess we’ll see how many you can give me before I fall asleep, huh?” 

“Absolutely.”


	15. Hard Goodbyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: this chapter is entirely a flashback from Kenny’s POV! I usually italicize flashbacks, but since this is an entire chapter I didn’t this time!! enjoyyy

Kenny took a deep breath of smoke from the blunt in his hand, sucking the drug into his lungs in some feeble attempt to calm his overwhelming emotions. He had a sinking feeling this would happen inevitably, but he didn’t want to believe it. He didn’t want it to be real. Butters warned him plenty of times over the years this was probably going to happen. 

Blowing out the large cloud of smoke, Kenny glanced up towards the stars in the sky. He was sitting on a bench that was placed just a bit off the shore of the large lake outside of town. It was cold as shit, but he was desperate to just get some time to himself for a while and his parka kept him plenty warm enough. Butters officially broke the news to him at school that day, and it had been plaguing his brain ever since. He was leaving. 

Butters, his best friend and probably easily his most favorite person in the world, was leaving. His parents were sending him off to college all the way in California, but Kenny didn’t want to believe it. It put a sour taste in his mouth and a heavy feeling on his heart. 

He couldn’t even remember what it was like to not have Butters in his life. Sure, he was always around as long as he could remember. But, he didn’t give him too much mind when they were really little. It wasn’t the same as it was now. He spent so much of his time with him, whether at school or outside of it. Though, hanging outside of school was rather difficult. Fuck those stupid asshole parents of his. If Kenny had the power to, he’d make them just stop existing, for Butters’ sake. 

A heavy sigh was ripped from his lips and he pushed himself to his feet after finishing the stick of paper in his hands. He tossed it carelessly into the snow, stomping it out for extra measure. Something in the back of his mind made him bend down to pick it back up however, and he shoved it into his pocket instead. Just because he felt like shit didn’t mean he should be littering like that. 

He reluctantly pulled his phone out, watching it light up and show him the notifications for texts he never answered. He saw them already when they had initially been sent, but he hadn’t been able to bring himself to unlock his phone to write a response. 

**_Buttercup❤️:_ ** _ If you wanna talk, I’m leaving my window unlocked tonight.  
_ **_Buttercup❤️:_ ** _ I don’t care if you wake me up.  _

Kenny felt a bit guilty for not answering the texts, even if he knew Butters probably didn’t care. Or, maybe he would care? He just wouldn’t voice it. Kenny groaned a little, checking the time and seeing it was already a little after midnight. No doubt Butters would already be asleep. 

Kenny shoved his phone back into his pocket as he got his feet moving and placed his hands into his parka pockets as he began to make the walk back towards his house. The texts rang through his head repeatedly throughout the walk, and he found himself slowing to a stop when he walked past Butters’ house. He couldn’t help himself from looking up towards Butters’ window. He knew he should definitely just head straight home, but he couldn’t deny how much he wanted to see him. He was going to be leaving soon, so why not make the most of the time they had left? Yeah, that was good reasoning, right? 

So, with a deep breath, Kenny turned and walked up to the tree next to Butters’ window. With much experience climbing this very tree, he climbed up with ease, and only gave some soft knocks to his window as he usually did. Once he had, he carefully pushed the window open. 

“Leo? It’s me- you up?” Kenny spoke in a whisper, peering into the room and to the bed right under the window. Butters was still fast asleep. He second guessed if it was really a good idea to see him this late, but Butters texts rang in his head again, and he pushed himself into the room and onto the end of the bed carefully. 

Butters grumbled a little, and it didn’t take long for him to wake up after the bed shifted. And soon enough, Kenny’s ocean blue eyes were met with Butters’ sky blue ones. The light coming in from the window was just enough that they could see, thankfully. 

“Kenny?”

“Hey, sorry I came so late… I know you were trying to sleep.” Kenny quietly apologized, giving him a soft smile. “I just… needed to see you.”

Butters slowly pushed himself to sit up, rubbing a hand over one of his sleepy eyes. “No, no, it’s okay. I’m glad you came.” He returned the smile, but it didn’t last very long. He suddenly looked nervous, and it was made all the more obvious when his fists were pushed together in front of him and he lowered his gaze. “I wanted to talk to you…”

“I know. I’m sorry, I… wasn’t ready to talk earlier. Hell, I still don’t think I am.” Kenny let out a bitter chuckle, turning his gaze down towards the floor with a frown. “When… do you..” He struggled to get the words out.

“Next week.” Butters answered quickly. Maybe it was better that way. It was like a bandage, better to just rip it off then spend too much time dragging it out. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner.”

Kenny let out a soft sigh, shutting his eyes as he tried to contain the emotions flooding through him. That was way too soon. He only had a week left? That was simply way too little time. He opened his eyes again to look at him, unable to help the frown glued to his face. 

“It’s… okay. I’m sure it was hard to bring up.” Kenny tried to assure him quietly. Butters remained quiet at first, refusing to meet his eyes as he nervously continued to rub his fists together. They fell into awkward silence for what felt like hours, despite it only being a few moments. 

Kenny carefully reached his hands forward, grabbing onto Butters’ hands to stop him from rubbing them together anymore and pulling them towards him instead. “Come on. We got time to be sad later, okay? Let’s have some fun tonight?”

Butters finally met his eyes again, but Kenny was having a hard time reading his expression. He was relieved though when eventually a smile came over the blonde’s face. “Yeah. That sounds great, Ken.” Kenny quickly returned the smile. 

He pushed himself off of Butters’ bed to grab his jacket for him, handing it over. “Sorry if you don’t get any sleep tonight.”

“It’s fine. I’d rather be awake with you than asleep anyway.” Kenny felt his heart race a little at the confession, but he tried to not dwell on it for too long. It wasn’t long before Butters was bundled up for the weather outside and the pair quickly began to make their way out the window and down the tree for what was probably the hundredth time.

They both seemed to equally try and stomach down the underlying sadness they were still feeling, but it was pretty hard to do. The night felt so bittersweet. It was hard to not think about how this was one of the last times they’d hang out. Regardless, they tried to make the most of it as they made their way through the quiet town. 

Everything was already closed for the night and most everyone in town was safe at home, leaving the whole town essentially to themselves. It was why Kenny loved coming out late at night like this. 

The pair made idle chit chat in an attempt to lighten the mood while they made their way through main street, only occasionally stopping to peer into the windows of the dark stores and offices or attempting to talk to raccoons and rats they spotted around the various trash cans littering the alleyways. They were forced to run away when a rather pissed off raccoon went for Kenny when he got too close. They were laughing though, easily able to escape the angry animal to the safety of the playground nearby. They stopped to catch their breath, still lost in fits of giggles as Butters spoke up through his laughter. 

“That thing almost got you! Why’d you go getting so close to it, Ken??”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.” Kenny laughed even more, shaking his head and standing himself up straight again from where he was leaning against his knees while catching his breath. “Sometimes they’ll be nice enough to let me pet them! I guess that one wasn’t having it.” He shook his head again, suddenly walking again forward towards the playground in front of them. Well, they seemed to find what they were going to do next. “Wanna see who can swing the highest?” 

Butters was suddenly racing past him towards the swings, already getting one step ahead of him. “I’m sure I can swing way higher than you can!!” Kenny started laughing as he picked up the pace, catching up with him to the swings. They spent another good hour or two at the playground after that. All the time spent swinging as high as they could go and jumping off when they got as high as they could go and making themselves sick on the merry go round. They eventually exhausted all they could do on the playground, and continued on moving through the town. 

The rest of the night was mostly uneventful, only filled with the two making their usual chit chat or laughing as they walked along the curbs of the sidewalk and jumped on the lines of cross walks while completely ignoring the traffic lights that meant nothing when there were no cars on the roads. 

Time seemed to go by way too fast, because before they knew it the sun looked to be ready to come up, and Butters suddenly shot up to his feet from where they had been resting in the snow. They had ended their night at the lake, but Butters was quickly worried when he realized they’d lost track of time, and Kenny saw it clearly. 

“Oh hamburgers!! My parents are going to get up soon!! We have to go, Ken!” Butters gave Kenny a look of worry, but Kenny tried to keep the air calm by quickly assuring him as he also pushed himself up. 

“It seems like it. Don’t worry, I’m sure we still got time. Let’s start heading back.” Butters was already on the move, walking much too quickly for Kenny’s taste, but he didn’t necessarily blame him one bit. Kenny made sure to keep up with him until they got to his house, and thankfully there were no signs of any lights on in the house yet. 

“Do you want me to help you climb up, or are you good?” Kenny decided to ask as they got to the base of the tree near his window. Butters quickly shook his head.

“I got it. Besides, I’d hate for them to happen to wake up the one minute you are at my window, Kenny…” The blonde looked up towards the tree, looking as if he was going to climb it, but he stopped himself. Kenny blinked in surprise when Butters suddenly turned to him again, and arms were wrapped around him. Kenny didn’t hesitate to return the gesture, however. 

“Can we do this all week? Please?” The request rammed right into Kenny’s heart. He didn’t give any hesitation in his answer, though.

“Of course, Buttercup. Whatever you want, as long as you find time to sleep this week too.” 

“Thank you.” Butters pulled from the hug after that, a soft smile on his face now. “I had fun. Thank you for coming, Kenny. I really needed this.”

“We both did. Don’t worry about it. You better head up to bed, yeah?” Kenny urged him, now also growing nervous about his parents possibly waking up to him gone. “I’ll see you at school, kay?”

“Yeah. See you soon, Ken!” With that, Butters turned and began to make his way up the tree. Kenny stood and watched, ready to catch him in case he fell, and only sighed with relief when he successfully got back through his window. Only then did he finally turn and begin heading in the direction of his own house to prepare for school that morning. They’d be exhausted, but it was worth it. 

-

The whole week went on like that, the pair spending their entire nights just messing around in the quiet town and losing much more sleep than they ever actually got. Needless to say they both slept from the second they would get home until it was time for them to have their nightly outings together. Every night seemed to feel heavier and heavier however, the two knowing full well their time was running short with each passing night. 

Time went by way too quickly, and already it was the final night they had left. Kenny gave the usual knock to the window before he pushed it open, but was unsurprised to find Butters awake already. They only had a brief chat before they were already heading out into the night for the sixth time that week. 

They decided to head to the lake first, and after only a brief walk, they soon sat in the snow in front of the frozen water. Kenny wordlessly tossed a rock across the ice, enjoying the echoing noise it caused as it bounced across it. It was hard to deny how heavy the mood felt. The two hadn’t talked as much as they usually would, and it was clear to Kenny that Butters must be just as stuck in his own thoughts as he was. They had a lot to think about, afterall. 

It was a good while before Butters was the first to break the silence.

“My parents are taking me to the airport first thing in the morning. So I won’t be able to say goodbye then. We’ll have to say goodbye before that.” Butters nervously gave the information in a quiet voice, but it was hard to miss the slight shake in his voice.

Kenny gave a small nod of understanding, not entirely surprised by it. “I’m sure they wouldn’t want me to see you then, huh? Even when you’re leaving. Ugh, I hate them.” Kenny didn’t try to sugarcoat it, feeling overly annoyed with the situation. It was already bad enough Butters was leaving, but now he couldn’t even spend that last minute with him? Having to say goodbye before he was actually gone… it didn’t feel good on his heart. 

Butters let out a soft bitter chuckle at Kenny’s comment, a smile making its way back over his face. “I know you do, Ken.” The smile quickly disappeared, and he glanced away again, fumbling with his hands. I’m- uh- I’m sorry…” Kenny glanced towards him again, tilting his head in confusion. 

“Why are you apologizing? It’s not your fault they exist and are.. Ya know, uh.. Like that. And it’s not your fault you have to leave, either. It’s fine. At least we still got tonight, right?” Kenny attempted to lighten the mood, but it seemed impossible to do. Or maybe he was just bad at it. The air felt heavy and so did his heart. He was sure Butters must be feeling the same, and it only became all the more obvious when they fell into silence. Kenny turned his gaze down to the snow in front of him. 

Soon enough, the silence was broken. But not with words. A quiet sob was heard from next to him, and Kenny quickly looked up to the blonde again with worry. Butters was visibly shaking as he seemed to struggle to contain the tears welling up in his eyes and the sobs ripping from his throat. 

“Hey, hey… it’s okay.” Kenny didn’t hesitate to scoot a bit closer to him, wrapping his arms carefully around him. “You don’t gotta cry, Buttercup.”

Butters hugged back onto Kenny tightly, pressing his wet face into Kenny’s parka as sobs continued to wrack through him. If Kenny was being honest, it only made him wanna do the same, but he kept himself strong. For Butters’ sake.

“I d-don’t wanna go, Ken…” 

Kenny took a breath as he heard the muffled, shaky words, but he kept himself calm. He rubbed Butters’ back gently, hushing him quietly before he spoke up gently, “I know. It won’t be forever though, you know?” He decided to not voice his own worries in that moment. He had no idea what could happen in the next four years. He didn’t know if they would actually see each other ever again after tonight. But, he tried to not think about it right now. Right now, all his focus needed to be on making Butters feel better. “We can text or call every single day. I’m sure you’ll have a good time in California. New scenery, new experiences.”

Butters shook his head a few times, sniffling out more sobs before he spoke up again, “B-But you won’t be there.. It won’t be the s-s-same.” Kenny’s heart jumped in his chest at the words, and he really struggled to stop the emotions coming over him right then. But, he was well versed in controlling his feelings, so he refused to let it show, taking a deep breath to calm himself. 

“It won’t be the same without you here, either.” Kenny quietly admitted in return and he hugged onto him a little tighter. “I promise you won’t be alone in this, Leo. Time will go by in no time, I’m sure of it.” Butters finally pulled back from the hug, raising a hand immediately to rub at his teary face. Kenny took gentle hold of his free hand. He stayed quiet in thought for a moment, before pushing himself to his feet and gently pulling Butters’ up with him. “Come on. I have somewhere I want us to go.”

Butters was still sniffling, obviously struggling to handle the emotions overwhelming him, but he forced a response regardless, “Where are w-we going?”

“Surprise. It’ll be a bit of a walk, if that’s okay with you?” Butters only nodded, and Kenny began to get them walking. He kept tight hold of Butters’ hand, refusing to let go of him. “Let’s go then. It’ll be worth it, promise."

After only a few moments of them walking in silence, Kenny fished his phone out with his free hand to begin playing music from it in an attempt to lighten the mood a bit more. Kenny dragged them along to a specific part of one of the mountains just on the outside of town. Well, maybe it was more like a glorified hill, with it being smaller than the actual mountains surrounding the town. But, regardless, it wasn’t too difficult to climb, Kenny knowing the best route up to the top. It only took maybe 30 minutes for them to walk there and up to the top, and soon they were coming up over the edge. 

“Here we are.” 

Butters glanced around a bit, a little confused, clearly. “Here?” Kenny nodded, wordlessly pulling him along and turning them around towards the town again as he stepped them closer to the edge of the hill. 

“Look.”

The town looked so tiny from up here, only the shapes of the buildings and the faint lights from the street lights and some of the houses coming out clearly. They were far enough away that all the stars in the sky were clear as day too, and the moon shone brightly above them. It was beautiful, to put it simply. 

“Oh wow, Ken.” Butters spoke up breathlessly, a smile eventually coming over his face. Kenny claimed that alone as a victory to himself. That’s all he wanted, truly. He just wanted to see him smile. “This is beautiful.”

“Yeah, I think so too. No one's gonna bother ever climbing all the way up here, so it’s a nice place to come to to be alone. But, I think it’s even better having someone else see it too.” Or, if he was being more specific, it was even better having Butters see it too. Kenny sighed, letting go of Butters’ hand finally to sit himself into the snow. 

Butters quietly sat himself down too, clearly cheered up a bit more compared to before. The air still felt heavy and tense, but Kenny was glad Butters wasn’t crying anymore. He was even smiling! “Thank you, Kenny.” There was a small moment of silence before Butters continued. “For everything- thank you.” 

Kenny looked at him again, smiling a bit at the words. “It’s no problem, Leo. I’m here for you, always, no matter what, okay? I mean it.”

Butters eyes met his own, and after a short second Butters suddenly sniffled again. Aw shit. No, he was trying to make him  _ stop  _ crying, not cry  _ more! _

“Ah, hey, it’s okay! Please don’t cry anymore, Buttercup.” It was too late, tears were already leaking from Butters eyes again, but a smile remained on his face despite it. 

“You have no idea how much I.. appreciate you, Kenny.” Butters spoke honestly, sniffling once more as he rubbed at his eyes. He thankfully didn’t sob like he had earlier, but Kenny didn’t like seeing any tears come from the blonde’s eyes ever. “I d-don’t know what I’m going to do without you.”

“Hey, none of that sad talk. It isn’t going to be forever, remember? I swear it.” Something in the back of his mind was telling him he shouldn’t be making promises that he wasn’t even completely sure he could hold up, but he couldn’t stop himself. All he cared about in that moment was making Butters feel as good as possible, despite the depressing circumstances. 

Kenny tried to lighten the mood further by joking around and even starting a small snowball fight between them. Thankfully, it successfully cheered Butters up for a while and the rest of the night went pretty smoothly. That is, until they finally were heading back. They only had probably about 30 more minutes before Butters parents were going to get up to take him to the airport. 

The pair stopped outside of Butters’ house, not saying a word at first. Kenny didn’t want to say what they had to say, and it was clear Butters didn’t want to either. 

Kenny forced himself to break the silence, grabbing one of Butters’ hands again when he began to rub his fists together. “Hey… I don’t want you being all sad when you leave.”

“That’s easier said than done, Ken.” Butters frowned at him, before he inevitably turned his gaze away. “I- just…” His voice started shaking again, and Kenny knew already that the tears were inevitable. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

Kenny quickly stepped forward, wrapping his arms around him tightly the second signs of Butters’ emotions coming out again began to show. “I’m gonna miss you a bunch, Leopold. Too much.” Butters couldn’t speak anymore after that, his voice completely trapped in his sobs that seemed to only worsen with every passing second. Kenny felt burning at his own eyes, but he attempted to control it. His heart ached with every passing second of Butters’ crying. But he understood the pain he was in, since he was definitely feeling it too. 

Hardly anymore words were exchanged after that, as they only held onto each other for what was probably an entire ten minutes when Butters’ sobs finally began to quiet down after plenty of comforting from Kenny. 

Butters pulled away from him, sniffling a couple more times while Kenny carefully wiped the tears from his face. 

“Everything will be okay, Buttercup. I promise. I’ll be sure to text you every day.” Kenny spoke gently, trying his best to ignore the intense pain he was feeling in his heart. 

Butters nodded a few times, still trying to calm himself down. He finally spoke up again, meeting Kenny’s eyes. “I’ll text you too. Every day, I promise.” Butters briefly hugged him again, a bit tighter than before. “I’ll miss you so much. Please be safe, Ken.”

“You too, Leopold. Text me when your plane lands, yeah? I wanna know you got there safe.” When they pulled from the hug again, Kenny raised a hand to pat Butters’ hair a couple times. “You should… probably get ready to go before your parents get up.” 

Butters frowned at that, but thankfully, no more tears were shed now. “Yeah. I probably should.” He sighs as he reluctantly stepped away from Kenny and towards the front door. He didn’t have the energy to bother using the tree this time, and thankfully he was smart enough to keep a key on him. Kenny watched him go, refusing to move an inch until he couldn’t see him anymore. Butters stopped when he went to unlock the door though, turning back towards him again with a weak smile. 

“Goodbye, Ken.”

Kenny’s heart tensed up, and he had to take a deep breath before he answered, “See ya, Buttercup.” With that, Butters turned and finally headed inside the house. Kenny let out a heavy breath once he was out of sight, stuck in place for a good few moments as he tried to come to terms with what just happened. He didn’t want to believe it was really true, but he knew deep down it was. No matter how  _ much _ he wanted it not to be. 

Finally he turned and began to force himself to walk back towards his house, shoving his hands deep into his parka pockets. Only then did he finally feel everything begin to uncurl on him, all his emotions finally coming out after he spent the entire night holding them in to stay strong for Butters. 

He kept his feet moving, but his eyes were burning as tears welled up in them and soon rolled down his cheeks with silent sobs. It took a lot to make him cry, but this was just too much for him, really. He couldn’t imagine not having Butters around. He was like a little bright light in the darkness that was this horrible world he lived in. It was mere minutes without him and already the world seemed so much darker. 

He was determined to keep up the promise he made to him, and wasn’t sure if he’d even be able to sleep. He’d probably stay up waiting for him to text him later that day, if he was being honest with himself.

Little did he know that the texting would only last a month before they would lose contact entirely, followed by four whole years of silence. Horrible, horrible silence. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >w> stuff gets way juicy from here on out eeeee SO EXCITED  
> put your seatbelts on FOR REAL THIS TIME


	16. Monopoly

Butters stood up straight and placed his hands on his hips as he surveyed the set up he had just finished, making sure nothing was out of place. He had a box of Monopoly and Uno all set out on his kitchen table which he had moved into his living room. He only had four chairs, and they needed six of them so he quickly decided his couch could easily be used as two extra seats. 

He had suggested that they invite Craig, Tweek, Kyle and Stan over for a board game night. Stan and Craig both had said something about only showing up if alcohol would be there, so Butters made sure to stock up on some since he didn’t have any in his apartment. He wasn’t one to drink often, especially not on his own, so he never had any reason to buy any. Kenny offered some of the alcohol from his apartment as well, and it wasn’t long before they had plenty stocked up for the night. 

He had a couple bowls full of different types of chips and cookies that would hopefully satisfy any cravings the group had through the night set out on the table as well. A smile came over his face when he decided everything seemed ready. He made a quick trip to his bedroom and into his closet to grab some spare blankets to toss onto the couch. After that he only gave a quick glance to the clock, noting it was almost time for everyone to show up. 

Butters gave one more small glance over everything to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything before making his way to his door and out into the hall. With a quick trip down the stairs he got to Kenny’s apartment and happily let himself in without bothering to knock. He showed up often enough now he hardly ever needed to knock and Kenny had a bad habit of leaving his door unlocked, too. 

“Kenny! Are you almost ready?” Butters called out as he entered the apartment, shutting the door behind him as he glanced around for any sight of the blonde. It wasn’t long before Kenny’s head suddenly popped in from around the corner from his bedroom.

“Yes sir!” 

Butters smiled at the quick response, already making his way over to him. He wordlessly wrapped his arms over Kenny’s shoulders as he leaned up to press a small kiss to his lips. “Good. I got everything ready upstairs.” He felt Kenny’s hands on his waist in return but Butters made no attempt to move away. He kept himself close, their noses practically touching as he let out a quiet giggle now. “Everyone is going to show up soon.”

“Yeah. I’m sure we still have a few minutes, though?” Kenny smiled a bit more, and Butters couldn’t help but giggle again when he then pressed another kiss to his lips right after. 

“Don’t you think we should head up before they get here, then?” Butters broke into more laughter right after when Kenny began to plant small kisses all over his quickly reddening face. “Kennn!”

Kenny only quietly pressed his face into the crook of Butters’ neck after that as he muttered a quick response, “Just a minute.” 

Butters playfully rolled his eyes at that, but only hugged himself a bit tighter onto him in response. Kenny softly swayed them side to side like that for a few minutes, simply enjoying each other’s company. They were only interrupted from their moment when Butters felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He reluctantly pulled from Kenny to pull it out, and he sent him a bright smile after reading over the message he had received.

“Tweek and Craig are on their way. Can we go now?” Kenny quickly laughed at that, finally letting him free from his grasp.

“Okay, okay. Geez, it’s almost like you _don’t_ want to hug me?” Kenny gave him a fake pout, but it was quickly wiped off his face back into a smile when Butters nudged him in the shoulder. 

“Keep that up and I might just say yes!” Butters giggled a little. He grabbed onto Kenny’s sleeve and quickly began to pull him along towards the door. “Come on!”

“Always in such a hurry, Butterball.~”

Thankfully for Butters, Kenny gave no more fight against leaving the apartment and heading upstairs. Butters let go of his sleeve once they were inside the apartment, and he happily plopped himself onto his back on his couch.

“I’m so excited!~ This is gonna be so fun!” 

Kenny hummed a bit in agreement, seating himself on the armrest of the couch to look down at the blonde. “It will be, for sure.” He glanced around them for a brief second, before speaking up again, “This setup looks sick, Leo. I’m sure everyone is gonna love it.”

“Even when half of you don’t even like board games?”

“Yep. Don’t worry, everyone is gonna have a good time.” Kenny sent Butters an assuring smile, and it quickly made Butters’ smile only grow wider. 

“Well good!” Butters sat himself up so his face was closer to Kenny, keeping the smile glued to his face. “I’d be sad if you guys didn’t like it.” He smiled a bit more sheepishly and briefly shut his eyes tight as Kenny leaned in towards him to give him yet another kiss. 

“Trust me, I’d kick their asses if they made you sad, kay? None of that allowed.” He chuckles a little before pushing himself to his feet and heading towards the kitchen and Butters opened his eyes again to watch him go. “While we wait for everyone to get here I’m going to get a head start on some drinks!” 

It was only ten minutes later that a knock was heard at the door, prompting Butters to quickly hop up to his feet from where he was sitting with Kenny on the couch. He had expected it to be Tweek and Craig considering they were the only ones to text, but was surprised to find Kyle and Stan behind the door instead. 

“Oh! Hey fellas!” Butters gave them a happy greeting, stepping back to let them come inside as he turned towards Kenny. “Kyle and Stan are here!”

“Hey dude.” Stan raised a hand in greeting to Kenny as him and Kyle stepped inside. Butters shut the door behind them and quickly made his way back to the couch to sit next to Kenny.

“Damn, y’all really weren’t gonna text or anything?” Kenny commented with a small shake of his head, but a grin remained on his face. “Glad you two could make it. I guess we just gotta wait for the other two huh?” He took a sip from the cup in his hand which he was already nearly finished with. 

Kyle chuckled a bit as him and Stan already took seats at two of the chairs set at the table in front of the couch. “Just didn’t come to mind. At least we are here now.” 

Kenny took another sip from his cup before pointing towards the kitchen with his thumb. “There's alcohol in the kitchen if you wanna go ahead and-”

Stan was already pushing himself back to his feet. “Absolutely.” Kyle sighed a bit, but he was pushing himself to his feet too. He didn’t bother saying a word as he followed Stan to the kitchen. Within only a couple minutes of the pair leaving for the kitchen there was another knock to the door. Butters quickly hopped to his feet again, knowing exactly who it was this time. 

He had a bright smile stuck on his face as he opened up the door, rocking on his heels a bit as he happily greeted the pair on the other side of it. “Hi Tweek! Hi Craig!” 

“Hey Butters!” Tweek returned the happy greeting as he was allowed inside. Craig didn’t say anything, only quietly following the blonde inside. Kyle and Stan came back out into the living room then, both with cups in hand. 

Craig quickly stopped in his tracks. He first looked at Stan, then to the drinks in their hands, and like that he was already wordlessly heading for the kitchen. Kenny quickly snickered.

“Hello to you too, Craig!” Craig only raised a hand to flip him off as he walked past, and Kenny only laughed more. Tweek quietly took a seat in one of the chairs and gave both Kyle and Stan a small wave in greeting. The pair quickly took their own seats once again, leaving only one seat next to Tweek open for Craig. 

“So, what are we playing first?” Kenny spoke up again, glancing between the group. 

Butters quickly sat up straight, leaning forward to grab the box of Uno in the middle of it. “I wanted us to play Uno first! Monopoly takes a while so I figured we’d save that for after?” He briefly glanced between everyone questioningly, but the general consensus he got was that no one cared much. “Okay!” Butters responded vocally regardless, and quickly grabbed the Monopoly box to place it on the floor and out of the way. 

Butters wordlessly took the cards out of the Uno box and began to shuffle them while Stan suddenly spoke up now.

“I hope you’re ready to get your ass beat at Uno, smelly.” Kenny glanced over at him, seeming to know immediately he was referring to him. 

“Uh huh? You say that like it’s not all six of us playing, stinky.” He returned a similar name calling in his direction. He chuckled to himself as he took another sip of his drink afterwards.

Kyle was rolling his eyes. “I don’t know why you guys always do this.” He took a sip from his own drink. 

Craig finally came back out into the living room after that, his own cup in hand as he went and took a seat next to Tweek. “Sup.” he finally spoke, and Kenny dramatically cheered with a raise of his cup. 

“Finally the demon speaks! Hello, Craigory.” A shiteating grin came over the blonde’s face when Craig again reflexively raised a hand to flip him off. 

“Don’t fucking call me that.” 

“Which one? The demon or Craigory?” 

Craig’s glare only deepened, and his hand remained raised as he took a drink from his cup. Kenny laughed a little as he leaned back into the couch. “Okay, okay. You can stop trying to kill me with your eyes now, Craigory.”

“Would you fucking stop?” 

Butters sighed a little, nudging his elbow against Kenny with a playful pout. “Quit it, Ken!” Kenny broke into yet more laughter, but he finally stopped trying to get under Craig’s skin. For now, at least. Butters dealt out the correct number of cards to everyone and set the deck out in the middle. 

“Okay! Let’s start playing! Let’s take turns clockwise- so I’ll start and then Tweek, Craig, Kyle, and so on!” he sent a bright smile to everyone, obviously the most excited about this compared to everyone else. 

“Sounds good to me.” Tweek finally spoke up again, returning the smile with a small nod as he picked up his set of cards. 

For the first few sets of turns nothing too eventful happened, but tensions quickly already began to rise the longer the game went on. Not to mention, the more everyone’s drinks began to kick in. Tweek and Butters seemed to be the only ones not drinking. Butters considered it, but he didn’t feel like doing it just yet. 

It was Stan’s turn, and he quickly placed a +4 card onto the deck while shooting Kenny a smug smirk. Kenny wasn’t phased though, as he only raised a brow. “Nice try. Sorry, Buttercup!~” He chuckled as he also placed a +4 down, adding it up to +8.

Butters gasped, placing a hand over his chest in offense. “How dare you! Too bad though, because uhhm..” He giggled a little as he also placed the same card down, adding it up to 12 now. 

Tweek looked down at the card that was placed down, then gave a small glance towards Craig. Without a word he averted his gaze as he slowly placed down the same card as well. It added up to 16. 

“Dude!!” Kyle spoke up in shock.

Craig sat in silence, staring down at the deck in disbelief. “What the fuck?” He finally spoke after a moment, then glanced between the four who placed all the special cards down. “ _What the fuck just happened?_ ”

Kenny and Stan had been stifling laughter, but they both finally burst out loudly into it when Craig spoke up. Butters was giggling a little too, though not nearly as dramatically as Stan and Kenny were. Tweek had an amused smile over his face as he awkwardly fiddled with the cards in his hands. 

“Get _fucked_ , Tucker!!” Stan boasted loudly through his laughter, only to yelp immediately after when Craig’s now empty cup was suddenly tossed at his head. “OW! What the fuck!!”

“Fuck you guys.” Craig grumbled as he reached down to begin gathering up his large number of cards. He had only three cards left in his hand before that. 

A couple more turns passed, and Butters was soon the first one left with only two cards in his hands. Kenny and Stan both had four each, Craig still had way too many to even have a chance of winning at this rate. Kyle and Tweek both had five each. It was looking promising for Butters this time. Both of Butters’ cards were red, and lucky for him, the deck was currently on that color. 

Kenny, however, suddenly stretched while glancing over in Butters’ direction, trying to get a peek at his cards. Kyle sent him a soft glare but didn’t say a word about it. Butters didn’t notice, unsurprisingly, and Kenny actually got a quick glance at the colors in his hand. So, once it was his turn again, he quickly put down the wild card he had been saving and proudly announced, “Green!”

Butters gasped, before whining in disappointment. He grumbled quietly as he began to pick up cards until he had a green one, leaving him with 5 cards in his hand now. 

The rest of the game didn’t last long, and in the end Kenny ended up winning. Everyone shared a groan as Kenny cheered happily about it. Butters pouted as he set his cards down.

“I could have won! Aw, dang it.” 

Kenny sighed dramatically as he raised a hand to pat Butters’ head. “It’s okay, Leo. You did your best.” Butters smiled a bit at that, quickly cheering up.

Kyle rolled his eyes yet again, but continued to keep what he had seen to himself. “Maybe we should move on to another game before someone actually gets murdered?” He suggested.

Butters glanced over to the red head, eagerly nodding. “That’s fine! Here, lemme gather up the cards. You guys can grab more drinks while I get the next game set up if you want?” As if on queue, Kenny and Stan both got up immediately. They ended up trying to race each other to the kitchen, shoving each other like literal children. 

“Would you two knock it off!!” Kyle yelled at them as he pushed himself up to his feet. He let out a soft sigh, following after them. Craig silently began to head for the kitchen as well after he picked his cup up from where it fell to the floor when he had thrown it. 

“It’s pretty crazy when we are all together like this, huh?” Tweek commented once it was just him and Butters left in the room. Butters was busy putting the cards back into a stack so he could put it back in the box, giving a small nod.

“Yeah! It’s so fun, though. I just hope no one gets murdered tonight, honestly.” He laughed, shaking his head. “I thought Craig was going to actually kill Stan or Kenny earlier!”

Tweek was laughing a little too now, nodding. “Me too, if I’m being honest. Let’s hope the next game goes better.”

Butters sent him a small grin at that, shrugging his shoulders as he tossed the box of Uno onto the floor. “I guess we’ll see. It’s Monopoly- so who knows how this will end.” 

It didn’t take long for the game to be set up and for everyone to gather around the table again with their newly refilled drinks. In hopes of making the game not last longer than necessary, they decided to split into teams. Kenny eagerly wrapped an arm around Stan while declaring he was on his team. So, in response, Butters had said Tweek would be on his team. Kyle and Craig exchanged a small glance before shrugging, accepting each other being stuck on a team together. 

The game started off pretty slow, everyone slowly collecting different properties without anyone landing on anyone’s spots just yet. By the time anything did actually start to pop off, everyone’s drinks seemed to be kicking in. Kenny had brought Butters a drink as well, so Butters was feeling it a little too. He didn’t drink as much as everyone else had, but he was a lightweight so it didn’t take much. 

Half the board was owned by this point, and Kyle and Craig were taking their turn. Kyle hummed a little in his throat, glancing over to Stan with a bright grin. “Hey Stan. If you give us Reading Railroad I’ll kiss you soo fucking hard dude.”

Stan stared at him for a second, before giggling and nodding a few times. “Hehe… okayy.”

Kenny gasped at that, quickly sitting up straight and shaking his head. “DUDE!” It was too late at that point, Kyle had already switched out the pieces to indicate him and Craig owned the railroad now. Kenny groaned. “Is that even allowed???”

Butters hummed a bit, slowly nodding. “Sorry, Ken. But it is.” Kenny groaned again, plopping himself back against the couch. Only a couple turns later, however, Butters attempted to pull the same sorta trick on the pair. 

“Kennnn… If you love me you’ll give me Park Place. I’ll do whatever you want if you do!~” He sent him a pair of puppy dog eyes, and Kenny choked on his breath for a short moment. 

“U-Uh, oh shit, yeah, yeah you can have it.. Haha..” He swallowed, ignoring the complaints from Stan next to him. Butters smiled and leaned over to press a small kiss to Kenny’s cheek. 

“Thanks, Kenny! I love you!” He quickly switched out the pieces to take ownership of the spot and Stan groaned. It wasn’t much longer into the game until Stan and Kenny went bankrupt and effectively lost the game. It was only Tweek and Butters against Kyle and Craig now. All the spots Kenny and Stan had owned were now up for grabs. 

They were pretty tied, it felt like. They were evenly matched, with both Kyle and Butters seeming decently good at making decisions in this game. It was Tweek’s turn to try and use things to his advantage though. He yelled out when he ended up making them land on one of the more expensive spots that Kyle and Craig owned. 

“Gahhh, oh no! Oh jeez-- that’s so much money!” Craig blinked a few times, watching Tweek awkwardly begin gathering up money for them. He cleared his throat a little, glancing away.

“You can.. have half off, Tweek.” Kyle sent him an incredulous look. 

“Dude, what!? No- it doesn’t work that w--”

“Oh, really!? Oh, jeez, thank you, Craig!” Tweek smiled, putting half of what he grabbed back into their money pile before handing the rest over to them. Kyle groaned and face palmed in response. He didn’t bother trying to argue. 

Butters began to build on all their owned spaces as much as possible, making them only cost more and more if the other two were to land on them. Kyle and Craig didn’t do nearly as much building, Kyle wanting to save as much money as possible. It seemed to backfire on them however, because in the end Butters and Tweek were gaining way more money than they were losing. 

It didn’t take long for Kyle and Craig to lose all their money and go bankrupt. They probably could have saved themselves if they sold off some of their properties, but it was a losing fight, so they accepted defeat. Butters and Tweek cheered in victory, giving each other a high five.

“Yay!! We won!” Butters spoke excitedly.

“Only because you guys cheated!” Kyle grumbled, crossing his arms with a pout.

Tweek hummed a little at that, shaking his head. “You technically did too, Kyle. You started it, actually!”

Kyle rolled his eyes, before a yawn suddenly escaped him. He pushed himself to his feet now. “Alright, it’s getting pretty late now. I think I’m gonna take drunk boy here home.”

Stan blinked a few times, lifting his head from where he had been resting it against the table. “Huh?”

“Yeah, I’m talking about you. Come on, dude.” Kyle grabbed at Stan’s arm, pulling him up to his wobbly feet. Stan didn’t attempt to fight it, only giggling as he let himself be led towards the door.

“Byyyye!!” Stan waved at everyone as Kyle opened up the door. 

“Bye guys! Get home safe, okay?” Butters waved them off, smiling before turning to Tweek and Craig. “Are you guys going to head out too?”

Tweek nodded as he slowly pushed himself to his feet. “I think so, yeah. I’m tired. I’m sure Craig is too.” Craig quietly nodded as he got to his feet. He was a little drunk, but seemed much better at handling his alcohol than Stan had been. “I’ll see you guys later!” 

Butters followed them to the door, smiling and nodding as he watched them go. “Yeah, see ya, fellas! Drive safe, Tweek!” He sighed with relief once they were all gone, shutting the door and turning back around with a wide grin stuck over his face. “I think that went well!"

Kenny chuckled a little, slowly pushing himself to his feet to begin gathering up the cups from the table. “Yeah? I think so too.” He stayed where he was after he finished gathering up the dishes, glancing over to Butters again. “Hey, while I put these away, do you wanna put the game away? After that, do you wanna maybe go for a walk?”

Butters stepped back over the table, a wider smile coming over his face. “Well, sure, Ken! I’m not tired enough to sleep yet, I think.” He quickly got to work gathering all the game pieces to put them back into the box. Kenny nodded and wordlessly headed into the kitchen to clean up the dishes and put the extra left over snacks away. 

It was only a couple minutes before they were getting bundled up to head out. It was summer, sure, but nights still could be a bit chilly sometimes. Butters took tight hold of Kenny’s hand as they exited the apartment. They both weren’t even sure where they were going to walk, but as usual they kinda just started walking and would see where their feet took them. 

The night wasn’t super cold or anything, but it was a bit chilly, and it made Butters glad they put jackets on just in case. They ended up eventually walking through the park in the middle of town, which was completely empty due to the time of night. Last he checked, it was somewhere around one in the morning. Butters wasn’t sure how he wasn’t tired yet. Maybe it was the alcohol from earlier?

The pair made idle chit chat as they usually did on their walks, and Butters excitedly talked about how much fun he had that night with everyone. Butters’ voice eventually was cut off as he felt Kenny suddenly raise his arm in front of him, pushing him back and stopping them in their tracks. Only then did he look forward, noticing first a man in front of them, but then the blatant barrel of a gun being pointed towards them. Butters froze and felt his stomach drop to the floor in fear, as well as concern. Not necessarily concerned for himself, however. He already had a really bad feeling about this.

“Alright, don’t think I need to explain myself. Give me whatever you got.” The man in front of them spoke up, sounding a little nervous, but stern. His face was covered with a black ski mask, and his entire attire was black as well. No wonder they didn’t notice him initially, in the darkness. The gun in his hand was shaking a little, but his finger was on the trigger, and that alone made Butters fear the worst. 

Butters was fully ready to just reach for his wallet and phone, but Kenny spoke up before he could.

“We don’t have anything for you. We are on a walk, we didn’t take anything with us.” Kenny spoke cooly, keeping his composure.

“Bullshit! No one goes anywhere without at least a phone or something, hand them over.” The man growled out his words, obviously losing patience already. He was desperate. The man took a few steps towards them, and Kenny tensed up a little, Butters noticed. “I’ll give you five fucking seconds, buddy.”

Soon, the gun was practically pressed against Kenny’s chest, and Butters felt like his soul was about to leave his body. He couldn’t even process whatever Kenny said in return, before Kenny was suddenly moving. Butters could only watch in terror as Kenny attempted to wrestle the gun out of the man’s hand, but within seconds the air was cut with the intense sound of the gun firing. 

Butters felt sick to his stomach. His ears were ringing momentarily as he watched Kenny sink onto the ground next to him, and the man took a few steps back from the two of them. He looked almost as scared as Butters was right then.

“Oh sh-shit I… I didn’t want to actually k-kill anyone, I.. shit!” He spoke in a panic, and within seconds he was already running away, fleeing the crime scene that had just occurred.

Butters heard Kenny cough a couple times, and that was all it took for him to finally quickly move, kneeling onto the ground next to him. His eyes were already starting to burn as tears welled up in them, and he carefully pulled Kenny into his lap with a sob. “Kenny.. O-Oh my god… Hold on, I’ll call 911, okay? You’ll be okay, I swear it.. I…” He fumbled with his pocket, trying to grab his phone.

Kenny groaned a bit in obvious pain, and his shirt was already soaked with the blood from the wound in his gut. He met his pained eyes up to Butters wide blue ones. “Butters… it’s fine..” Kenny’s voice was strained, and he was obviously struggling to even speak. He coughed a couple more times before continuing, “I promise, it’s fine….”

“It isn’t fine!!” Butters quickly yelled back at him, his voice squeaking a little from his tears. He knew exactly what Kenny meant. He knew. He knew Kenny would come back. He always did. But it wasn’t fair. None of this was fair. Kenny shouldn’t have to suffer like this all the time. It tore Butters apart more than anything else in this world could.

Butters was back to fumbling with his phone, his hands shaking so much right then that he was almost struggling to even get to the app he needed to dial 911. Kenny’s hand suddenly reached up to rest on his, pulling his phone down. Butters met his eyes again, and the tears continued to run like two rivers down his cheeks as his body trembled.

“They won’t get here soon enough, Buttercup.” Kenny said it with such ease, like it was simply knowing how long it took to drive to a coffee shop. “I don’t… know how to explain-” Kenny broke into more pained coughs, and his voice was already getting weaker now. “-but, just trust me.. It’ll be fine...I don’t like seeing you cry...please."

“No… no no no… Kenny…” Butters spoke through broken sobs, shaking his head a few times. “Please… I- I can-”

“Shh..” Kenny quickly hushed him, giving a gentle shake of his head. He shut his eyes tightly as he took a few labored breaths, already obviously struggling harder to even speak. But, he forced himself to continue, “I love you, please, please don’t cry… There’s nothing.. you can do, Leo..” 

Butters wasn’t even sure what to say at this point, his sobs taking up all the sounds in his throat as he only shook his head even more times. He couldn’t stand how calm Kenny was about this. It didn’t matter how many times he has had to experience Kenny’s deaths, they hurt him just as deeply every time. But, he’s never had to experience it this close before. Kenny in his arms like this… it was too much for him. He could hardly imagine how Kenny must have actually felt about his own deaths, despite his seemingly calm demeanor. 

Butters hugged tighter onto Kenny as he pressed his face into his shoulder. He wasn’t sure when exactly Kenny finally lost the life from his body, but he never ended up saying anything else. The only sounds filling the quiet night air were the muffled sobs of Butters as he kept himself clung onto Kenny. 

It wasn’t until a passerby found them that he was finally forced to snap from his grief-induced trance of tears. 911 was finally called, and Butters was soon forced to leave Kenny behind to the professionals and head home after some minor questioning from the police. He was the only one found with the body so he supposed it was valid for them to suspect him at first, but Butters relayed everything that happened and he was thankfully let free to go home.

As much as it still hurt, Butters could only hope to see Kenny back safe and sound as he usually did in the next few days. He saw no reason to even tell Tweek or anyone else about what happened, since he knew they wouldn’t remember anyway. There was no point in doing anything but just keeping it to himself until Kenny came back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you guys as usual for the comments and kudos <3 they mean the world to me  
> I feel like we are nearing the end of this fic in a few more chapters (maybe? not sure LOL) and I feel motivated to do another multichap bunny fic after this one! :0  
> im gonna pretend I didn't just pull what I did in this chapter aha,.. don't worry abt it :,) (please don't murder me)


	17. Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two chapters in one day? yeahhh  
> I had most of this one written already and I was really excited to write more so! LOL I finished this already  
> enjoy

He felt his phone buzzing against his mattress for the tenth time in the past hour, but Butters made no effort to check it. It was probably still Tweek. He’d been trying to get a hold of him for days now, but Butters just couldn’t will himself to talk to anyone. He quit his job. He had plenty of money saved up to keep his rent paid for a couple months, so he saw no reason to keep going right now since he didn’t have the energy. He hardly eats. He wasn’t sure he’s ever been able to cry and sleep as much as he had in the past few weeks. He never got out of his bed if he could help it. 

Butters should have been used to this by now. He’s experienced it so many times now. He still had no idea how this shit even worked. How did Kenny always come back? Why did no one else seem to remember? And most importantly...

_Why didn’t he come back this time?_

The longest Butters has had to wait for Kenny to come back was two weeks. But, it’d already been more than a whole month now. There was a funeral finally planned. Butters honestly thought he was going to go crazy. He couldn’t really be gone this time, could he? He had to come back… he always did. He had to. 

But he had to begin to accept the sad truth. He was gone. He was really _gone._ Butters’ worst fear had come true, and it was hitting him harder than he could have ever imagined. It felt like his heart was physically broken, and it was the first time Butters believed the whole ‘broken heart’ thing to be actually true. His chest _hurt_ so much. His _soul_ felt like it was hurting. 

The vision of Kenny bleeding out, dying in his arms continued plaguing his mind like a broken record. He was sure he had nearly ripped his own hair out by pulling on it in attempts to tear the visions from his mind. He wanted to yell. He wanted to scream out for someone to help. He wanted someone to bring him back. He _needed_ him. He _loved_ him.

Another grief filled week passed, and it was already time for the funeral. Butters almost didn’t want to go. He almost didn’t go. But, to his dismay, Tweek showed up to his apartment with Craig, and the two practically forced him to get out of bed. They forced him to get dressed, and dragged him out of his apartment for the first time since that horrible night. 

Butters stared blankly out the window as the car drove down the road, feeling so emotionally drained. He was sure it’d hit him again once they were at the actual funeral. Craig was driving while Tweek continued glancing back at Butters occasionally from the passenger's seat. They sat in silence for most of the drive, but Tweek suddenly spoke up delicately.

“I’m really sorry, Butters. I don’t know what to even tell you… Kenny was a really good guy.”

Butters glanced in his direction, only giving a soft sigh. He turned back to the window again, speaking flatly. “Yeah, he was.”

Tweek frowned, obviously unsure what he could do to help his friend feel better. Or maybe he was simply realizing there really wasn’t anything he could do. So, he let them fall back into silence again for the remainder of the drive. The funeral was being held in South Park, and Kenny’s family actually traveled back down just to attend it, as well as a couple of the kids who had moved out of South Park after graduating.

Butters felt sick to his stomach as they finally pulled up to the church, not at all looking forward to this. His feet felt like they had weights dragging them down, but he forced himself up and out of the car, looking up to the building with the sickening feeling only worsening. He spent so much time in this church growing up, it should feel comforting. But nothing could feel comforting enough for him right now. 

They weren’t even able to get to the front door of the building before Butters heard a voice calling out to him, stopping the group in their tracks.

“Butters! Tweek, Craig! Hey guys…” It only took a glance to see who was approaching them, and Butters blinked a few times. He almost didn’t recognize the voice without the lisp he used to have.

“Scott! Hey, man.” Tweek greeted him, trying to be friendly despite the awful atmosphere. Butters didn’t say anything, only watching them silently. Scott turned to him though, and Butters inwardly groaned in his mind at the thought of having to actually talk to someone.

“It’s good to see you again, dude. Are you doing alright?” Scott asked cautiously, giving the blonde a worried look. He had been pretty good friends with Scott in school, so it didn’t surprise him he knew how bad this was probably hurting him. He knew how much Kenny meant to him.

Butters sighed a little though, shrugging. “I don’t know, if I’m being honest with you. Definitely not good.” He spoke honestly, not having any energy to sugarcoat his words as he would normally.

Scott only gave him a small nod of understanding, pity clear in his expression. “I’m really sorry. I’m sure he’d be really glad you came.”

“Yeah.” Butters responded numbly, moving his gaze to the ground. He really didn’t want to have to talk about this. He didn’t want to be here. 

Silent tension fell over them, and it was Craig who finally broke the silence after a moment.

“It’s probably going to be starting soon, we should get settled inside.”

Butters reluctantly followed behind the three as they entered the church, and he almost cringed at just how thick the atmosphere inside felt. It was so.. grim. The sound of quiet crying was already wisping around the room and into his ears, and Butters wasn’t sure if he’d actually be able to sit through this. He could recognize the crying, and it only hurt him even more. Karen was probably the only other person to be as hurt by this development as he was, and he could hear it even without seeing her yet.

As much as he tried to not let his eyes look towards it, they soon glued to the casket at the end of the room. It was at the very least closed, so he didn’t have to see him. But…. he was in there. He knew he was. They neared their seats, and Butters forced himself to look away and back to the floor.

Butters’ chest felt tighter, and he already felt the familiar burning of tears filling his eyes as his body began to shake a little. He’d repressed the urge to cry up until now, but actually being here was almost too much for him. Tweek seemed to notice pretty quickly, because he was suddenly stepping back towards him.

“Hey, It’s okay.” Tweek spoke gently, suddenly wrapping his arms around Butters tightly. It was just too much, and Butters finally broke into sobs. “It’s okay…it’s okay to cry..”

Butters wrapped his arms back around his friend, gripping tightly onto his clothing to ground himself as he sobbed into his shoulder. It hurt so much. It was finally dawning on him this was actually happening. Kenny was really gone. 

-

Another two months passed, and nothing seemed to change. No matter how hard his friends tried, they couldn’t get Butters to do anything. Tweek was persistently showing up to his apartment in attempts to get him out of the place for a while, but Butters refused every time. What was the point? It wasn’t going to make him feel better. So why waste the energy? 

Butters groaned in frustration when he heard knocks to his door yet again for the second day in a row, a part of him telling himself to just ignore it this time. He almost did. But the longer he didn’t answer, the more knocks would come to the door. 

“God damn it.” Butters cursed under his breath as he pushed himself out of his bed. He was sure he looked awful. His eyes felt puffy and heavy from his endless weeks of crying, and he was exhausted. He dragged himself to his front door, unlocking it and already speaking irritably as he opened it up.

“Tweek, I already told you I-” Butters felt his voice catch in his throat when he looked up, not at all expecting the sight in front of him. His head began to spin. He felt faint. No.. it couldn’t be. 

“Hey Buttercup! I couldn’t find my phone so I… are you alright?” Kenny spoke happily at first, as if nothing ever happened, but it quickly melted into concern. It was quickly made clear to Butters he must have really looked bad, because worry quickly came over the blonde’s face. He was completely fine. He looked like he always did. Butters felt like he was going to throw up, but his stomach was too empty for him to even do so. 

“You…. You…” Butters struggled to find words, and his heart began racing faster as he became overwhelmed with feelings. It was like he was feeling every emotion you could imagine, all at once. Relief, Anger, Sadness, Happiness, Fear, all of it. All of it mixed together in an overwhelming emotion that made him breathe a little heavier as the world felt like it was spinning around him. 

Kenny quickly stepped forward when it looked like Butters was going to lose the ability to stand, probably clear from how he was nearly having to lean on the door. Butters almost wanted to scream when Kenny’s hands touched him to hold him up on his feet, but nothing but a whimper came from his throat as tears filled up his eyes.

“What’s the matter? Is everything okay, Leo?” Kenny spoke with concern, trying to meet his eyes, but Butters refused to look at him now. Did he have no fucking idea what happened? Did he even know he’s been gone for three months? That he’s been _dead_ for three months??

Butters couldn’t form a response, too caught up in his emotions to say anything. Kenny shut the door behind them and led them to Butters’ couch, sitting them down. Butters didn’t have the energy to argue or try and fight against him, so he allowed it.

“Leopold, talk to me. Please. What’s wrong?” Kenny pleaded to him, grabbing both of Butters’ hands gently. 

This was too much. This was way too much. He finally accepted he was actually gone. He thought he was _really_ gone this time. What the fuck. _What the fuck?_

“W-What…” Butters tried to speak, his voice quivering as he struggled to keep himself calm. He forced himself to continue regardless, “What… month is it?”

“What?” Kenny seemed overly confused by the question. “What do you mean what month is-”

“ _Please_ j-just answer the question, Ken.” Butters spoke desperately, refusing to meet his eyes still. 

Kenny hesitated, seeming very nervous now. “It’s… June, obviously?”

Hah. Wow. 

Butters almost chuckled bitterly, but it couldn’t come out of his throat, so he only shook his head. He choked on a sob now, finally looking up into Kenny’s eyes. “Kenny… it’s September.”

Kenny looked scared all of a sudden. Ah, so he really had no idea yet, huh? He was probably trying to think of how to explain his disappearance this time, but was overly confused. “What? But-”

“Kenny.” Butters spoke seriously now, taking a few breaths to calm himself back down. The initial shock was finally wearing off, and Butters pushed himself to his feet suddenly. He couldn’t take this anymore. He couldn’t. It was far too much for him to handle anymore. 

Kenny seemed shocked into silence.

Butters took another deep breath to ground himself before suddenly turning around to look at him again, meeting his eyes. 

“I… remember. I always remember…” 

“What?” Kenny’s voice was barely audible, but Butters managed to pick up on it. 

“In 4th grade I saw you get hit by a car, but you came back to school the next day.” Butters’ voice was quiet, but steady, not breaking his eye contact with Kenny. “In 7th grade I heard that you had gotten stabbed and killed while walking home from school, but within days you were back at school again.” He swallowed, taking a quiet breath to keep himself calm, but he could feel his emotions already uncoiling in his heart again. His voice began to shake a little. “In 10th grade we were hanging out on the school rooftop… and you fell. You slipped, and I w-watched you fall…. But you came back again two days later.” 

Kenny’s expression was hard to read, but he looked pale. He almost looked like a ghost, and at this point Butters was wondering if maybe he was one. Maybe it wasn’t right to tell him all this, but it continued to spill out, like he couldn’t control his own voice. He kept it all bottled up for so long, tormenting him, and now he finally had a chance to open that bottle up. 

“I’m s-sorry…. I’m so sorry... I’m sorry, Kenny.” Butters continued when Kenny didn’t try to say anything, his voice sounding more and more broken the more he talked. Tears were blinding his vision, and he was already shaking with quiet sobs between his words now. “I’m sorry I never said anything. I- I’m so… It’s n-not fair…” 

“What do you mean you remember? That’s-- No one is supposed to remember them..” Kenny finally spoke up in a weak tone.

“But I do! I remember every s-single one!” Butters slowly sank down to crouch on the floor, holding his hands tightly together in front of him as he struggled to handle his emotions. He was so overwhelmed. He was so happy Kenny was back, but he was upset at the same time. He spent that whole time grieving, trying to get over the fact he was gone, and he just shows up like nothing ever happened? How fucked up is that? 

“Leo…” Kenny finally spoke up gently again after a few moments, but his voice seemed shaky. Butters felt arms wrap around his trembling body, and it only made his sobs worsen. “I’m so sorry. God, I’m so fucking sorry. Y-You should have said something-- I-”

“How was I supposed to!? No one ever r-remembers. I didn’t want to know how you’d react b-b-but I- I-” Butters looked up at him now, his vision still blinded with his tears. He couldn’t help the slight anger that came out in his tone. He wasn’t angry with Kenny. No, not at all. He was angry with himself. Maybe he should have said something. But, even if he had, it wouldn’t change anything, would it? Kenny still dies all the time. It was like he was cursed. He was given, what, some power to be immortal, just to die over and over? That.. was so horrible. Butters choked on more sobs, pressing his face into Kenny’s chest now. “I’m so s-sorry, Ken.” 

Kenny didn’t say anything else for a while, the two falling into silence as they both seemed to try to come to terms with everything that just came out. Butters could feel Kenny trembling a little against him, and it almost scared him. He supposed he didn’t blame him. He was probably feeling just as overwhelmed as he was, right then. 

Eventually, Butters was the one to break the silence, and he spoke nervously, “Kenny.. I- as glad I am that you are back, I think I need time alone.” He swallowed, refusing to meet his gaze as he tried to pull away from his arms. “This is t-too much for me.” 

Kenny seemed hesitant, but he reluctantly let go of him and pushed himself back up to his feet. “Yeah- that’s… fine, Leo. Take your time. I- I’m so-”

“It’s fine.” Butters stopped him. He was still shaken up, and tears continued to well up in his eyes still. He swallowed a little, keeping his gaze away from him. “I should have said something… I just- was scared.”

Kenny frowned at that, but he didn’t make any move to try and hug him again. Butters was sure he probably wanted to, though. Butters made no effort to get up from the floor, and only hugged onto his knees as he watched Kenny finally beginning to head for the door. He hesitated when he got to it, and when he glanced in Butters’ direction Butters quickly turned his gaze away again. 

“I’m really sorry, Buttercup. Feel free to, uh, come see me whenever you feel ready, okay?” Butters only gave a small nod, and Kenny let out a soft sigh. He only looked back towards the door after he heard it shut, leaving him alone in his apartment yet again. Butters didn’t really wanna be alone right now. Not anymore. But he also couldn’t stomach seeing Kenny just yet, it was too much on his heart. He needed some time to gather his thoughts. So, after only a few minutes of trying to compose himself, Butters got himself back up to his feet. 

He quickly got himself dressed to actually head out of his apartment for the first time since that funeral. He knew exactly where he wanted to go. He pulled out his phone after he finished getting ready, deciding to text first instead of just showing up. 

_Hey, are you home right now?_

**_Tweekers:_ ** _yeah why what’s up?_

_Can I come talk to you?_

**_Tweekers:_ ** _of course butters. I’ll be here_

_Thanks_

Butters put his phone back away with a heavy sigh. He wasn’t sure if he was prepared to actually talk about anything, but he needed someone’s company right now. He spent way too much time alone these past few months, although that was his own fault. Regardless, he quickly headed out of his apartment and began to make his way towards Tweek’s house. He took his time walking there, trying to gather his thoughts a little bit more before he actually showed up, but before long he finally showed up to the front door and gave it a few knocks. 

Tweek opened up the door shortly after, Stripe in his hands. He sent Butters a soft smile, “Hey Butters. Is everything okay?” He stepped back to let him inside, and Butters quickly took the offer to step inside.

“Uh, not really, actually. I’m… really confused.” He took a seat on the couch, fumbling with his hands nervously. “I just, uhm, need someone to talk to.”

Tweek took a seat next to him and gently put Stripe onto the ground to let him roam around. “Yeah, of course. What’s the matter?”

“Kenny’s back.” Butters said bluntly, swallowing as he tried to handle the emotions building up inside him already. 

“Oh finally? Where has he been?” The question stabbed right into Butters’ heart, and he wasn’t entirely sure how to answer. What was he supposed to say? Tweek really didn’t remember what happened, did he? He didn’t remember having to check on him for three months straight. Or comforting him at the funeral when it was all too much for him. Butters swallowed a little again, gripping his hands against his pants a little. 

“Uh- he.. Was out of town. But he never told me he left.” He quickly thought of the best way to describe something of similar effect to what actually happened. “He showed up at my apartment earlier as if he never left in the first place, but I made him leave. I don’t know if I should have- I’m just.. Really confused. I don’t know what to do.”

Tweek listened attentively to him, nodding a couple times after Butters finished. “Well, I did think it was weird when he stopped showing up for work… I kinda figured that was just his way of quitting so I didn’t bother questioning it.” He thought aloud, which quickly helped Butters piece together how Tweek was remembering the past three months. This was always a normal step when Kenny died. Butters had to slowly piece together what everyone else saw the days of Kenny missing to have actually happened. After all, it would be strange if Butters acted as if he didn’t remember it the same. 

This time though, he deep down had wished he wouldn’t be the only one to remember what actually happened. But, evidently, it was a feeble wish. Butters took a deep breath before nodding. “I think something with Karen came up. That’s why he left without saying anything. I don’t know, I didn’t really let him explain when he came to see me..” Butters pieced together more false events. “I feel angry, but I don’t want to be angry. I don’t think it’s fair for me to be angry?” He met Tweek’s eyes as he raised his hands to rub his fists together nervously. 

“Well…” Tweek started, “I don’t know. If Craig did that to me I think I’d be pretty mad.” Butters nodded, believing him definitely. If Kenny actually did the events he exactly as he had described he knew he probably would be mad. But the actual circumstances were much much more complicated than that. “Maybe you should talk to him? I mean, maybe not right away. If you are both as upset as it sounds, maybe you need a couple days? Do you wanna hang out with me and Craig tomorrow, maybe?”

Butters couldn’t help but smile a little at that, appreciating the care Tweek was giving him. Maybe he couldn’t vent his exact circumstances to him, but he had gotten pretty good at getting around that at least a little. Tweek was really the only person he could ever vent about Kenny to. “Thanks, Tweek. Yeah, I think I might, if that’s okay with you guys.”

“Of course!” Tweek returned a smile. “I’m sure you guys will figure it all out. You guys work too well for it not to work, you know? Kenny can just be kinda… uh.. Stupid sometimes. That’s all.” Tweek tried to assure him, and it actually made Butters laugh a little bit. He was glad he decided to come see Tweek now. 

“I guess I can’t disagree with you. Thank you, Tweek. I think I’ll talk to him in a couple days.” 

Butters was still confused, but he was sure of what he wanted to do now. Tweek spoke up to interrupt Butters’ thoughts.

“You wanna play with Stripe?” Butters' smile quickly brightened, and he nodded immediately.

“Of course I do!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha... don't murder me  
> plz thnx


	18. Old Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> minor gore warning for the beginning part of this chapter! Skip the italicized text if you want to skip it!

_Butters blinked himself awake when the faint sound of knocking reached his ears. It didn’t take him long to know what it was, or rather, who it was. He quickly rubbed some of the sleep from his eyes as he sat himself up. He didn’t bother checking the time, figuring it was late enough that his parents were fast asleep anyway. He shuffled his way down the bed and to his window, a smile coming over his face when he met eyes with the blonde on the other side of it._

_He quickly pushed the window open, and as usual scooted himself back to allow him space to come inside. “Hi Ken!”_

_“Sup, Buttercup.” Kenny greeted him happily as he sat himself on the end of the bed. “Hope it’s okay to see you this late, I know you were probably sleeping?”_

_Butters quickly shook his head, smiling at him as he pressed his fists together in front of him instinctively. “No, it’s okay! I like being able to see you.”_

_“I like seeing ya too, Leo. Otherwise I wouldn’t show up, huh?” Kenny chuckled a little as he shoved his hand into his pocket, already searching around for something. Kenny tended to bring a deck of cards or something of the sort with him when he’d visit like this, so Butters immediately assumed that was what he was looking for._

_“Ah, shit.” Kenny suddenly cursed out calmly, and Butters tilted his head a bit in confusion._

_“What’s the matter, Ken? Did you forget something?” When he finished asking the question, he watched as Kenny pulled his hand back out of his pocket after that. Or rather, lack of one. Butters’ stomach went cold with panic when he saw Kenny’s hand now missing, blood quickly gushing out of his wrist and onto the sheets of the bed. Kenny remained eerily calm though._

_“I lost my hand. That’s a shame, huh?” Kenny chuckled a little, and Butters could only stare at him in horror._

_“W-What!? H-How.. But… but you just-” Butters stumbled with his words but Kenny only laughed again, and Butters almost felt like his throat was going to close up with terror. Blood suddenly started to run down Kenny’s forehead now too, and Butters slowly backed himself up against his headboard._

_Kenny gave him a reassuring smile. “What are you so scared for, Buttercup? You know it’ll be fine, right?” Butters quickly shook his head a couple times, and as if on queue more and more kept happening to the blonde in front of him. Kenny’s arm that still had a hand slowly slipped off his body and onto the sheets, more blood dripping down in large amounts following it. Butters felt like he was going to throw up._

_“S-S-Stop. Stop it. Kenny, stop…” Butters began to plead under his breath, tears welling up in his eyes in terror. Kenny shook his head at the pleads, and Butters felt a scream rip from his throat when the slight movement alone caused one of Kenny’s eyes to suddenly pop out. “P-P-Please stop!! I don’t like it, Ken!” He raised his hands to cover his eyes, curling up a bit tighter on himself out of fear._

_Kenny suddenly tried to shift closer to him, and Butters could do nothing as he was basically cornered by the headboard behind him. He felt the warmth of Kenny’s blood drip against his legs and he whimpered out a sob._

_“I can’t stop it, Leo.”_

Butters sat up with a harsh gasp of breath, panting a little in a fit of panic as the visions from his nightmare rang around in his head for a few moments. He tried his best to shake it off when he realized it was just a dream, though. He groaned a little, shutting his teary eyes as he rested his head into his hands. What a horrible dream. He’s had bad dreams about Kenny before, but not as bad as that one had been. 

“Butters? Is everything okay?” He heard Tweek’s voice suddenly speak up somewhere near him, and Butters finally observed his surroundings. That’s right, he had stayed the night at Tweek’s. Tweek was sitting in the chair next to the couch he had been sleeping on and he looked worried. “You were whimpering in your sleep… I didn’t wanna wake you and make you more scared.”

“Oh. Ah, I’m okay. I just had a nightmare.” Butters sighed a little, still shaken up but feeling a bit more at ease now that he was awake and not alone either. “I’ll be okay.” He forced an assuring smile on his face, and thankfully Tweek didn’t press any further about the nightmare. 

Tweek pushed himself up to his feet after taking a brief sip from the coffee mug in his hand. “Craig is still asleep, but I can go ahead and make us some breakfast? I could get you some coffee too, if you want?” 

Butters smiled a bit more genuinely now, giving him a small nod. “That sounds good, thanks Tweek.”

Tweek returned the smile. “It’s no problem. I’ll be back in a bit.” He assured him gently before making his way towards the kitchen and out of sight. 

Butters took a deep breath, having a hard time distracting himself from the vivid nightmare. He glanced up towards the television in front of him. He hadn’t even realized it was on, but he supposed that must have been why Tweek was out here in the first place. Tweek knew he was a heavy sleeper so it was clear Tweek wasn’t worried about the TV waking him up. Butters tried to just focus on the show that was on, hoping to rid himself of the graphic thoughts plaguing his mind. 

The television only helped a little with his racing thoughts, but thankfully he was thoroughly distracted when Tweek eventually came back out with a fresh cup of coffee in hand. “Here, it’s fresh.”

Butters smiled as he took the warm cup into his hands, pleased when it looked just as it did when he’d make his own coffee. Tweek was always so good at remembering exactly how he liked it. “Thank you. I appreciate it.” He took a quick sip from the cup after blowing against it a little in hopes of not burning his mouth, and Tweek was already heading back towards the kitchen.

“Breakfast is almost done too. I’ll bring it out when it’s finished.” Butters nodded and gave him another thanks before turning his attention back to the TV. The warm drink helped calm his nerves some more, and Butters finally started to relax. He heard footsteps somewhere behind him shortly after, and only a short glance behind him told him Craig had finally woken up. He must have woken up to the smell coming from the kitchen. 

“Good morning, Craig!” Butters greeted him happily, but Craig looked unamused. He seemed to force a response regardless, however,

“Morning.” His voice was groggy with sleep, and Butters knew full well he was even more grumpy than usual when he just woke up, so he didn’t try to converse with him any further as he watched him head for the kitchen. Butters listened to the faint sound of Tweek and Craig chatting and it put a warm feeling on his heart. It also made him crave for the same thing, though. He couldn’t deny how much he missed Kenny. He was still recovering from the months without him, and the grieving that came along with that. But he also knew it was probably good for them to get a breather after what happened the previous day. 

Butters wasn’t sure what Kenny must have been thinking when he finally admitted all that stuff to him. He was worried he would have gotten angry at him for not saying anything. But, instead it seemed like he was just scared. Maybe a little guilty? He didn’t want to make Kenny guilty, though… it wasn’t like his deaths were his fault. Well, most the time at least. 

He was distracted from his thoughts when Tweek eventually came into view again, with Craig quietly trailing behind him. Tweek had a large tray in his hands holding three plates that consisted of waffles, eggs and bacon. Butters hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he caught sight of the meal, his stomach growling in hunger immediately. Tweek quietly set the tray down onto the coffee table in front of him, and handed him one of the plates and a fork. “Eat up. You look thinner than ever, have you been eating very well?” Tweek spoke with concern while moving to take his own plate and sit himself in the chair he had been sitting in previously. 

“Ah, I just haven’t had much of an appetite since Kenny was gone, I guess.” He tried to brush it off, not in any mood to talk about just how little he’d been eating these past few months. He couldn’t deny he was super hungry. So, he wasted no time to begin digging into the meal, overly gracious for the delicious food. He’d survived on just microwaved ramen and poptarts the past three months and it was really taking its toll on him. He’d never admit that though, especially when Tweek didn’t even remember the events the same as he did. 

“Well, just make sure you take care of yourself, okay? He’s back now, yeah? So maybe you’ll start to feel better once you guys talk.” Tweek sent him an assuring smile, and Butters couldn’t help but return it with his own. 

Butters swallowed another mouthful of the waffles before speaking, “I’ll try to. Don’t worry about me.” He continued to just brush it off best he could, not a big fan of people worrying about him like this. Or maybe it was just he still wasn’t used to it, even now. He almost felt like he didn’t deserve it. “This food is so good, Tweek!! Thank you!” He spoke up more enthusiastically now, allowing a brighter smile to come over his face. 

Craig nodded in agreement from where he had sat down next to Tweek with his own plate, speaking through a bite of the meal. “Thanks, babe.” He pressed a small kiss to Tweek’s cheek.

“It’s no problem! I’m glad you both like it.” Tweek took his own bite of the meal as he turned his attention towards the television. Butters quickly found himself doing the same. The group fell into comfortable silence as they enjoyed their meal and mindlessly watched the television.

The morning went smoothly from then on, and Craig’s grumpy attitude died down after a good hour or so of him being awake. They watched the TV for a few hours, only mindlessly chatting here and there during the commercials or about whatever was happening on screen. Eventually, Craig pushed himself to his feet and was already making his way back towards their bedroom.

“I’m gonna check on the kids.”

Butters quickly shot up to his feet now, a bright smile coming to his face. “Can I see them too??”

“Yeah, of course you can.” Tweek answered for him, and Butters glanced in his direction with an even brighter grin. He quickly followed after Craig to their bedroom with Tweek trailing behind them. 

They had a large guinea pig pen in the corner of their bedroom filled with all the necessary needs for the small animals. They had various structures with ramps for them to crawl around on, a tray full of fresh hay and veggies, a house for them to hide in, a water bowl, and plenty of toys. Stripe wasn’t the only guinea pig they had now, as after realizing it was necessary to have at least two, they got themselves two more. One of them was short-haired like Stripe was but was fully white with some brown and black spots on it’s back. Her name was Dot. The third one was much more long-haired and was a messy collection of black and whites. His name was Checkers. 

Butters had met them all plenty of times, but he was always eager to see the furry friends again. Dot had a liking for him, and it was made all the more obvious when she began whistling loudly in excitement and waddled her way across the shredded bedding towards Butters as soon as he was in view. The guinea pigs had already gotten excited to see them all enter the room, but Dot made it clear she was heading straight for Butters specifically. Butters couldn’t help but giggle a little as he sat himself down in front of the pen.

He gave a small glance to the other two in the room. “Can I hold her?”

Craig seemed hesitant, but he reluctantly nodded. “Yeah, just be careful.” He kept his eyes locked on Butters as he reached down to take hold of the rodent in his hands. He was always so overprotective of them, but Butters was always very gentle with them so he was lucky enough to get to play with them. The guinea pig whistled and wheeked loudly in his hands and Butters couldn’t wipe the smile off his face even if he tried. 

“You are sooo cute. I’m so glad you’re always excited to see me!” Butters cooed happily to Dot, nuzzling his nose against the small twitchy one. “I love you!”

Tweek chuckled a little as he took a seat next to him. He reached over and unlatched the little door to their pen to allow the other two to roam freely, which Stripe did almost immediately. Checkers was a bit hesitant, always seeming to rather stay in the pen than explore at all. He reluctantly followed Stripe out after a few moments of debating. Stripe only briefly crawled over to Craig to lean against his leg and sniff up at him, before losing interest and already starting to roam around the room to explore. 

Checkers nervously came up to Butters, and he quickly looked down at the fluffy rodent with a smile. He carefully placed Dot down on the ground and reached a hand out to pet Checkers gently. “Hey little fella! It’s rare to see you come out of there like this.”

“Don’t forget he hates getting picked up.” Craig suddenly spoke up, now also sat on the floor next to Tweek. “He loves head scratches though.”

Butters tilted his head, moving his fingers to scratch against the guinea pig’s head instead, and a wider smile came over his face when the animal began to purr contently in response. “Aww. I had no idea!” 

Checkers only allowed the scratches for a minute before suddenly backing away and heading back to the safety of the pen. Butters was unsurprised, so turned his attention to Dot again, who was insistently trying to climb against his pants leg, and so Butters took her into his hands again.

“I don’t know why she likes you so much. She’s never that needy to us.” Tweek commented in amusement. He caught hold of Stripe just before the guinea pig tried to head for the open door. Tweek raised a leg to kick the door closed before setting Stripe back down to let him roam again. “You thought, mister. Nice try.”

Butters laughed a little, watching as Stripe headed for the door regardless, only to quickly give up when he seemed to realize he couldn’t leave the room. Butters curiously set Dot down a little bit away from him, and found himself giggling when she immediately only came crawling right back. “What about me is so cool to you? I don’t get it, you silly piggy.” 

Craig suddenly got back up to his feet, and stepped towards their dresser to dig inside one of the drawers for something. He soon pulled out a small baggie that appeared to be treats. He stepped back over and wordlessly handed it towards Butters. “Here. You can give them a couple of these.”

“Oh! Thank you, Craig!” Butters was bubbling with excitement, and apparently so were the guinea pigs, because the other two were already quickly trying to waddle towards him now too while wheeking loudly at him. “Okay, okay, hold on you guys.” 

Butters opened up the bag and dug his hand into it to pull out three of the little treats. “Here, go nuts little buddies.” Butters cooed to them as he one by one gave each of them one, watching as they happily began to munch away on the snacks.

Tweek was now moving back up to his feet as well. He smiled as he stepped towards the door. “I think I’m gonna go ahead and start on some lunch for us.” He glanced towards Craig now. “Craig, can you help me with it?”

Craig seemed hesitant, giving one glance to the guinea pigs, before turning to Tweek again. He sighs quietly. “Yeah, that’s fine, honey. Butters, can you put them back in their pen when you’re done?”

“Of course!” Butters turned his head to send him an assuring smile. He watched the pair leave the room and shut the door behind them to ensure the pets couldn’t roam and get lost when they didn’t have an eye on them. Butters gave each of the guinea pigs another treat before finally closing the bag up and pushing himself to his feet. He put the bag back where he had seen Craig take it from the dresser and then headed back to the pets.

He wordlessly watched as they munched away on the snacks, humming a small tune in his throat. Once they finished their snacks, he locked up the gate to the pen and carefully lifted them up one by one to place them back inside. He gave Dot a few extra assuring pats, smiling down at her. “I’m sure I’ll see you again later, don’t worry! Bye bye, buddies!” With that, he pushed himself up to his feet again, and headed out the room.

Butters hummed a little as the smell from whatever was being cooked for lunch reached his nostrils, but he didn’t intend to bother the two and instead headed for the couch again, taking a seat and letting out a sigh. He watched the television for a few minutes, but eventually found himself reaching into his pocket for his phone. He opened it up and scrolled through until he got to him and Kenny’s messages. He wasn’t even sure if he found his phone yet, and he also knew he probably shouldn’t be messaging him yet either. Regardless, he began to type out a message, only to be rudely interrupted when a stern voice reached his ears.

“Butters!”

“AH!” Butters flinched in surprise, dropping his phone to the ground as he flailed his arms a bit in surprise. He glanced towards the voice, seeing Tweek staring sternly at him with his hands on his hips. “Tweek. Hi!”

“Don’t go trying to text Kenny. You said you weren’t talking to him today! Don’t make me take that phone from you.”

Butters quickly pouted, sighing a bit in defeat immediately. “I know. Sorry, I just- really wanna talk to him.” He awkwardly reached down to pick his phone up from the carpet, reluctantly locking it and shoving it back into his pocket.

“I know you do, but it is definitely for the best you guys get a day to breathe. Come on, lunch is almost ready. It’s nice out, so I think I’m gonna have us eat outside, if you wanna go set the table out there?” Tweek tilted his head, obviously hoping the offer would keep Butters from attempting to text Kenny again. Butters quickly smiled now, pushing himself back up to his feet.

“Okay!”

Lunch ended up finished just as Butters got the picnic table in their backyard set up. The usual mindless smalltalk was exchanged as they enjoyed their lunch, and by the time they finished it was already beginning to get dark. They woke up pretty late into the morning, so their lunch was pretty late as well. Another quick break to hang out with the guinea pigs, and only an hour of TV later, Tweek was speaking up again.

“Do you guys wanna do something? Maybe like a bonfire or something? We could make s’mores!” Butters was already sitting up more in excitement at the suggestion. 

“That sounds great, Tweek!!” Butters pushed himself to his feet, his hands balled into fists in front of him as he bounced a bit on his feet. “Can we!?”

“I wouldn’t suggest it if we couldn’t, Butters.” Tweek quickly pointed out with a laugh, pushing himself to his feet as well and pulling Craig up as well, obviously not about to let him say no. Craig wordlessly followed the two blondes towards the backdoor and out into the backyard. 

Tweek briefly showed Butters where the firewood and means of lighting the bonfire pit that was in the middle of the grassy yard before mentioning he was going to go get things he needed for the s’mores and disappearing back into the house. Craig took a seat on one of the logs that was set around the pit, and Butters was already making quick work of trying to light the fire. Thankfully, he didn’t have too much trouble doing so, and it wasn’t long before the fire slowly began to come to life. Butters had a proud smile on his face as he sat himself back onto the log behind him, enjoying the warmth that already began radiating from the flames and onto his face.

“Good job, dude.” Craig suddenly praised from next to him, and Butters looked at him in surprise, before it quickly melted into excitement.

“Thank you, Craig!!” 

The sliding glass door was heard from behind him and he saw Craig look somewhere behind him as well, quickly telling him Tweek had come back. Butters twisted his body around to catch sight of the blonde, already speaking excitedly to him. “Tweek! I got the fire to start just fine!”

“That’s great, Butters. Thank you.” Tweek smiled as he stepped over and took his own seat on the log Craig was sitting on after he offered Butters a fork to shove his marshmallows onto. He handed Craig his own as well and it was only moments before they all had their own marshmallows being held carefully into the large flame in front of them.

“It feels like it’s been a while since all three of us hung out together.” Tweek was speaking up again, his eyes locked intently on the marshmallow in front of him.

Butters hummed in agreement. “Yeah, it has, actually. I guess when Kenny came back I kinda got caught up with him… Sorry about that.”

“What? No need to apologize, Butters. You guys are dating. Plus, he was gone for a while, I don’t blame you.” Tweek gave a lighthearted chuckle, obviously attempting to not let the mood drop. “I’m just happy to hang out with you again, that’s all. Besides, we have still hung out together with Kenny around, which isn’t a bad thing either.”

“Ugh, you say that. That dude gets on my nerves on purpose, I swear.” Craig suddenly grumbled, pulling his own marshmallow away from the fire to begin putting together his first s’more. “It is nice for us to hang out like we used to, though.”

Tweek was suddenly laughing a little, beginning to put together his own s’more. “Do you guys remember when we almost got kicked out of the mall that one time?” Even Craig started to laugh at that now, too.

Butters was giggling as he reminisced on the memories as well. “Oh god, yeah!! I blame Kenny for that, entirely.”

“Bro, he literally was the one who tried to slide down the middle of the escalators. Of course it was his fucking fault.” Craig spoke through some laughter, shaking his head before taking a quick bite into his s’more. “I’m glad I was smart enough to not try it too.”

“I wanted to but I didn’t want to get in trouble!” Butters admitted the fact with a sheepish smile, now biting into his own treat as well. 

“I didn’t know Kenny could even run that fast. Security was pissed as hell.” Tweek spoke through a mouthful of his own sweet snack. “I’m not sure what he was expecting to happen.”

“He never thinks that far ahead.” Butters commented knowingly, a larger grin coming over his face in amusement. “His next mistake was not even leaving the mall after he lost security. We only got to go to a few more stores before they found him again, remember? Then we _all_ had to leave! Unfair.”

“Well, do you blame them? If I was that security guard having to deal with stupid ass kids I would of been pissed too.” Craig spoke as he grabbed another marshmallow to make another s’more, already finished with his first one. “I suppose it wasn’t fair since we didn’t even do anything, though.”

“It’s not like we _haven’t_ done stupid stuff before, though.” Butters raised a brow, an amused grin coming over his face. “McDonalds?”

Tweek burst into laughter at the mere mention of the restaurant, leaning forward a little as all the memories came flooding back. “Holy shit! They were so pissed!!”

“We got so much ketchup on that wall! I feel so bad for whoever had to clean that up. I’m surprised Kenny wasn’t the one to start that.” 

Craig shook his head again, sighing. “You two together just causes chaos sometimes. I don’t know what it is. How did you guys not think seeing how hard you can smash some ketchup packets would end well?”

Tweek shrugged, nudging his body against Craig a little. “Oh come on, you have to admit it was fucking funny. Even if we got banned from that McDonalds for it.” 

“All it reminds me of is how fucking stupid teenagers are.”

“Hey, at least none of us can say we have done anything nearly as stupid as the many, many things Clyde has done.” Tweek pointed out, and Craig actually started laughing hard at that.

“Holy shit, I know. I know. Dude, he blows my mind sometimes with the shit he pulls. It’s like he genuinely just doesn’t think.”

Butters snickered a little, finally speaking up again. “I think the funniest thing was when he climbed onto the shelves at Walmart to jump into that big thing that holds the balls."

“He’s such a fucking idiot. Kenny daring him and egging him on does not help at all. Kenny bet him five measly dollars to do that, remember? I bet he didn’t even need to throw the money in to make him do it, though.” Craig rolled his eyes, but was still laughing a little just thinking about it. “I’m glad I was never that fucking stupid.”

The group all continued to reflect on their memories as teenagers, recalling the stupid shenanigans they have gotten themselves into or seen the other boys get into. They probably ate way more s’mores than they should have, and it was made all the more clear when Butters felt a little sick by the time they headed back inside for bed.

Butters stared up at the ceiling from where he laid on the couch again, his thoughts racing now that he was alone again. Tweek and Craig already headed to bed, and Butters almost dared to text Kenny like he had tried to earlier. He was nervous to talk to him tomorrow, unsure what would happen. He trusted Kenny, and he knew it probably wouldn’t go badly by any means, but it didn’t help him feel any less nervous. They really needed to resolve this. 

He tried to push it out of his mind for now though, getting himself more comfortable and sliding his eyes shut. For now, he needed to get some rest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tysm for reading and to those of you who have stuck around throughout this fic so far! ;w; it means so much to me ahh <3 I am glad you guys have been enjoying it as much as I've enjoyed writing it!! ;w;


	19. Back To Normal

“Thanks again, Tweek. I had a good time, I think I’m feeling a lot better.” Butters gave his friend a smile as he stood on their front porch, prepared to make the walk back to his own place. 

“It’s no problem, dude.” Tweek shook his head, his own smile on his face. “Stay safe, okay? I hope everything goes good with you and Kenny.” Butters only nodded in response, and Tweek gave him a small wave as he went to close the door. “See ya later, man.”

“Bye Tweek!” Butters kept a bright smile on his face until the door was shut, to which he immediately dropped it into a frown. He was excited to see Kenny again, but the thought of talking about what happened was putting way too many nerves in his stomach. Regardless, he turned on his heel and began to make the walk back towards the apartments. It was a bit of a walk, so he had plenty of time to think about everything on the way there. 

Butters took a deep breath when he inevitably began to near the apartment complex. He had already texted Kenny that he was on his way home, and that he wanted to talk, but he was suddenly feeling nervous. He wasn’t sure if he was actually ready to talk about this. But, he also knew they needed to. Nothing would get better if they didn’t. 

The time he spent with Tweek and Craig the past two days definitely helped clear his mind a little, at the very least. He wasn’t feeling nearly as confused. His nerves were definitely getting the better of him, though, and it was obvious with every step making his feet feel heavier the closer he got to the building. 

Butters quickly decided it’d be best to not dwell on it any longer, so he didn’t bother making a trip to his apartment to change or shower or anything of the sort. Instead, he headed straight for Kenny's door, and after only a brief moment of hesitation, he raised a hand to knock a couple times. He was almost startled with just how quickly the door was opened, Kenny usually taking his sweet time to even get to the door. 

“Butters.” Kenny spoke up as if in disbelief, despite the fact Butters knew full well he had known he was on his way there already. Butters swallowed a little, and opened his mouth to speak, but Kenny quickly stopped him. “Sh. Not here. Come on.” Kenny was suddenly grabbing his hand, and suddenly leading them out and away from the apartment.

“Huh?? Where are going, Ken?” Butters finally found his voice once they were walking away from the apartment complex. 

Kenny sent him a small smile as they walked, “Surprise.” Butters titled his head in confusion at that, but didn’t attempt to argue with him any further about it. They walked in silence through the town, and it only took half of the walk for Butters to begin to guess where they must have been going. Sure enough, they were soon passing their old elementary school and out towards the large lake they’d visited numerous times before. 

They soon stopped in the light blanket of snow, and Kenny was now turning to him and grabbing hold of his other hand so he had a gentle grip on both of them. Butters nervously turned his gaze down into the snow, not having the courage to meet his eyes yet. “Kenny, why are we here?”

Kenny took a breath. “Right here. This very spot. This is where I told you I loved you.” Butters’ heart quickly began to race a little, but he continued to keep his gaze on the ground, his grip on Kenny’s hands tightening a little. “I love you more than I can describe, Leo. I can’t imagine ever doing anything to hurt you. But whether I meant to or not, I did. I’m sorry you had to go through that. I should’ve been more careful.” 

Butters finally turned his gaze up to him as he opened his mouth to speak, but again Kenny stopped him before he could.

“I know what you wanna say. You wanna tell me it isn’t my fault. You wanna brush it off like nothing happened.. But I don’t want that.” Kenny squeezed onto Butters’ hands a little tighter as he rubbed his thumbs across the sides of his hands. Kenny’s eyes felt like they were digging right into Butters’ soul more than they ever had. He took a breath before continuing. “I’m a fucking idiot. I should have noticed, looking back on it now. You always acted a bit different from everyone else when I’d die. I always assumed I was the only one to face the consequences but.. If I had known.... If I had known that you were struggling with this all by yourself… I... ” His voice began to shake a little, and Butters felt his heart ache as he felt Kenny’s hands begin to tremble a little as well.

“Kenny...”

Kenny took a shaky breath, composing himself enough to continue speaking, “I don’t want you to struggle on your own. I can’t promise I won’t be gone as long as I was this last time after any other deaths. I don’t have control over that. But I can promise you that no matter what, I will come back. I swear it to you. I’ll fight both God and Satan myself if I have to in order to get back to you.” Kenny let go of one of Butters’ hands to raise a hand and point against Butters’ forehead. “I don’t want you holding anything in here anymore.” He then moved the hand to press against Butters’ chest. “Not here, either. I want you to talk to me.”

Butters stared at him for a whole moment as he tried to collect everything Kenny was saying into his head. It all began to get the better of him and he sucked in a breath as he felt tears begin to well up in his eyes. “Ken...” He stepped forward to tightly wrap his arms around him, pressing his face into his chest in an attempt to ground himself. “I love you. I’m sorry for hiding it. I won’t hide anything anymore; I have nothing left to hide.. I was just scared of how you’d react.” He felt arms wrap tightly around him in response, and Butters couldn’t help but shudder out a soft sob of relief.

“I don’t blame you, Leo. If I was you, I wouldn’t wanna say anything either. When you told me, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t even sure how to react myself. No one has ever… remembered. I promise I’ll do whatever I can to make them less painful on you. I’ll be more careful, too.”

Butters nodded a few times, keeping his face pressed snugly into Kenny’s parka. “I wanna make them less painful for you too. As much as I can, anyway.” Kenny quietly nodded, and Butters pulled back from the hug to press a small kiss to his lips. “I really thought you were gone for real this time. I’m.. really glad you’re back.” 

Kenny gave him a soft smile, and Butters felt one of his hands ruffle through his hair which quickly forced his own smile over his face. “I’m glad to be back. I’m sorry for all that, again. I’ve never been gone that long before, so hopefully it won’t happen again, yeah?” Butters nodded, quickly agreeing with him. “Now, uh..” Kenny continued, raising a hand to rub against the back of his neck a little nervously. “Do you wanna, uh, go get some food maybe?” 

Butters blinked a bit in surprise at the question, but he was well tired of having to be away from Kenny, so the offer was easily appealing to him. Not to mention, he was starving, so he smiled. “Sure, Ken. Whatever you wanna do!” 

-

Well, that went way easier than Butters had thought it would. He wasn’t sure what he had been so worried about. They’ve had to talk about a lot of stuff in the past, but this was a bigger deal than all of those things put together, he supposed. It was natural for him to have been nervous.

He hadn’t realized just how much hiding the fact he knew about Kenny’s deaths was weighing on his shoulders all these years, because it felt as if an entire ton was removed from them now. Everything was out in the air for them now, and it felt so nice to not have anything else hiding between them. Butters still wasn’t sure why he seemed to be the only one who remembered, and maybe he’d never understand why. But, he was glad he did, at this point. It was clear it was a big deal to Kenny. When Butters thought about it, he supposed it made sense. Dying all the time, and no one around you remembering at all? It sounded horrible.

But now, they could both be there for each other with this fucked up curse Kenny seemed to be stuck with. Kenny didn’t seem to have much more understanding about his deaths than he did. Then again, they didn’t spend too much time talking about it yet. It was still a bit too fresh on their hearts to talk about it in full detail. Instead, they switched to some lighthearted small talk as they stopped by the same fast food joint they first met at when Kenny returned to South Park to grab something to eat. Any tension that was between them before was already practically nonexistent. 

Maybe Butters still wasn’t fully recovered from the long months without Kenny, but he was already feeling a lot better being able to be with him again. Kenny briefly suggested they hang out at his apartment when they were finished eating, and Butters saw no reason to decline. He missed him way more than he could describe, so he wouldn’t dare pass up spending more time with him now. 

They weren’t at the restaurant for too long, and soon enough they were already making the long walk back towards their apartments. Butters reached for one of Kenny’s hands and was happy when Kenny didn’t hesitate to take hold of his hand. The pair walked in silence for the first half of the walk, the only thing filling the silence being the cars occasionally passing by them and the music Kenny had playing from his phone in his pocket. Eventually though, Kenny broke the minor silence.

“I’m sorry I missed your birthday, by the way. Uh, happy late birthday?” Kenny sent him a nervous smile, and Butters blinked a few times in response. He had almost forgotten about his own birthday, but sure enough, it had already been a whole week since then. He was so depressed about Kenny being gone, he hadn’t done anything for it. He was too busy moping around in his apartment. 

Butters gave him a reassuring smile, waving his free hand around dismissively. “No, no it’s okay. It’s not your fault. I didn’t have any plans anyway.”

Kenny turned his attention back ahead as they walked, giving a small hum. “Well, I’ll have to make up for it anyway. I’ll think of something.”

“Kennn, you really don’t have to-”

“Shh. It’s fine, Buttercup. I want to. You had that big party held for me and you want me to just sit back and not do anything for you? You’re crazy.” Kenny laughed a little, shaking his head. “I won’t do nothing yet, but gimme maybe a week, yeah?” He turned his eyes back towards Butters again, and Butters couldn’t help but eventually sigh in defeat.

“Okay, okay, fine. Don’t go doing nothing too crazy, though. It’s really not a big deal.” Butters continued to try and dismiss it, not at all wanting Kenny to feel like he was obligated to do anything. But, he knew how stubborn Kenny could be, so he knew it was a losing battle. Even if he tried to argue against it, he was somewhat excited now to see whatever Kenny would end up coming up with. 

They fell into another short moment of silence, but Butters was the one to break the silence this time. “Can we play some games when we get to your place? I feel like I’ve started getting better at that Mario Kart we played last time!” 

Kenny grinned wide at the suggestion, nodding immediately. “Well, sure. Sounds good to me. I don’t see why not. Maybe we can watch some movies after that, if you want?” 

Butters nodded eagerly, finding it harder and harder to wipe the smile off his face. Just because he still had the lingering feelings of the past few months didn’t mean he couldn’t find joy in being with Kenny again, and he was glad for it. “That sounds fun, Ken!”

After only a little bit longer of mindless small talk and walking, they finally made it back to the apartment complex, and up to Kenny’s door. Butters glanced around the place as they stepped inside, actually finding himself to have missed it more than he had thought. It was so relieving to be back. He quietly stepped over and took a seat on the couch, his legs feeling rather tired from all the walking they did that day.

“You wanna go ahead and get the game set up, and I’ll be right back?” Kenny's voice suddenly spoke up, and Butters glanced in his direction. He nodded, giving him a small smile.

“Of course, Ken.” Kenny returned the nod and like that he was heading for his bedroom. The more Butters glanced around the place, the more he realized just how untouched it looked compared to the last time he was here. Kenny really hadn’t been here for the whole three months, huh? It was hard for Butters to wrap his head around still. He tried to not think too much about it though, and he pushed himself to his feet again. He switched the television and gaming console underneath it to life. Kenny only had a handful of games, so it didn’t take long for him to find the specific game he was looking for.

He pushed the disc into the machine and grabbed the two controllers set aside next to it. He turned each of them on as he made his way back to the couch, sitting himself down and watching as the game loaded itself up. Just as the game got to it’s main menu, Kenny came back out into the living room in a new change of clothes. He was in some fluffy black pajama bottoms with little white skulls all over it, and a blank black t-shirt to go with it. He had another pair of clothes in his hand, which he held out towards Butters.

“Here, you can change into these if you want. They are a little small on me, so maybe they’ll fit you?”

Butters glanced at the pajamas he had in his hands, and he couldn’t help the smile that quickly came over his face. He took the clothing into his hands and got back to his feet again. He pressed a small kiss to his cheek. “Thanks, Ken. I’ll be right back, then.” Butters had been wearing the same pair of clothes for two days now, so it would be nice to change into something else.

It only took a quick trip to the bathroom and Butters was in the comfy pair of pajamas that thankfully fit him fine. The shirt was only a little baggy on him, but the fluffy pants fit him perfectly. The pants were a navy blue with a nice white plaid pattern on them. The shirt was plain white with just their middle school logo on it. That explained why it was somewhat small on Kenny, then. Butters folded his own pair of clothes neatly and headed back out into the living room, setting them down on the coffee table as he took a seat next to Kenny.

“They fit fine?” Kenny asked with a raise of his brow, and Butters quickly nodded with a happy hum.

“They’re comfy! Thank you, Ken.” Butters picked up the controller in front of him, and raised his feet up onto the couch as he leaned himself against Kenny. “Are you ready to get your butt kicked?”

Kenny snorted a little at that, already clicking through the game menus to get them to the actual game. “Whatever you say, Buttercup. We’ll see.” 

Butters stuck his tongue out at him, but put his focus ahead to the television as the game started up and they were met with the character selection screen.

The game got them a bit riled up pretty quickly, the two of them both getting rather competitive about it. Butters hadn’t been lying when he said he was getting good at this game though, and the two actually kept fighting for first place. It was pretty even for all the races, each of them essentially taking turns getting first place, even if on accident. By the end though, Butters was victorious by barely a few points, and he quickly cheered in excitement about it.

“I actually won!! Yay!” Butters couldn’t help but be excited about it, having not actually won first place against Kenny yet all the other times they’ve played this game. As such, Kenny didn’t seem very butthurt about it, and he only sighed with defeat.

“I guess you won fair and square. Good job, Butterfly. Wanna go again? New circuit?” 

Butters’ eyes gleamed with determination, and he quickly nodded. “Yes!"

They spent another few hours playing the game, and Butters was on a win streak until the very end, when Kenny finally won a game. Butters couldn’t help but groan in disappointment, but he was still riding off the high of winning so many of the races regardless. They finally decided to stop after that, and after only a quick break to eat, they were right back on the couch again.

Kenny reminded them they had also planned on watching some movies, so they got themselves comfy for that next. They had been rather loud while playing the video game, but the movies finally got them to quiet down and relax. Kenny wrapped the blanket that was over the back of the couch around them, and Butters cuddled up snugly against him, enjoying his company. 

Thankfully for Butters, there were no horror movies this time, only comedies. It kept the mood high, and within only two movies Butters was beginning to feel sleepy. He didn’t doze off like he normally would though, feeling almost as if he couldn’t. Kenny must have noticed he was sleepy though, probably made obvious by his endless yawning, so he suggested they try to head to bed. Butters didn’t argue, only nodding in agreement with him. 

So, Kenny got them both to their feet, and shut the television off. They made their way out of the living room and into Kenny’s bedroom, where Butters quickly made himself comfortable on the bed. Kenny made sure the front door was locked and all the lights in the house were shut off before he joined him, and Butters was safely wrapped in Kenny’s arms. 

Butters curled himself up a little tighter into Kenny’s grasp, keeping his eyes shut as he focused on his scent and the sound of his breathing. It made him feel calm and safe. They murmured their quiet goodnights to each other and fell into silence after that. Butters was having trouble actually falling asleep though. After a good hour of them laying there, it was made clear Kenny wasn’t sleeping well either, because he suddenly shifted a little and his quiet voice suddenly spoke up in a whisper to him.

“Leo? Are you still awake?”

Butters opened his eyes at the sound of the voice, although the room was too dark for him to actually see anything. He hesitated, but eventually quietly spoke up as well. “Yeah.”

“What are you thinking about?”

He wasn’t entirely sure how to answer the question. He was thinking about a lot of things, truthfully. There was a lot to think about. He took a breath, letting it out in a soft sigh as he forced himself to pick something. “I don’t know how you can be so strong, Ken.”

Kenny shifted a little after that, and Butters could almost feel his eyes on him, despite the room being pitch black. “What do you mean?”

“I mean… well… you go through so much. But, you seem to handle it all so well. I don’t understand, I guess. If I was you, I don’t think I could be that strong.” 

“Well…” Kenny started, but he hesitated a little, probably trying to find the right words. “I don’t know. I don’t feel very strong. It gets to me more than you’d think. I guess I just, uh, got used to it.” Butters nodded a little, still keeping himself pressed tightly against him. He gripped a little onto the fabric of Kenny’s shirt. He tried to think of a response, but Kenny continued. “You’re a lot stronger than you think, you know? You’ve been through a lot too.”

“I’m not strong, Ken.” Butters quickly tried to dismiss it, not at all seeing himself as anything close to strong. But Kenny didn’t hesitate to continue speaking.

“Nonsense. I’ve known you for as long as I can remember, Leo. I’ve seen the shit you’ve dealt with. But you continue smiling. You continue to be there for me and all your friends. That’s real strength, you know? I just.. I love that about you.”

Butters felt his heart beat a little faster, Kenny’s words definitely getting to him a little. He took another breath, pressing his face against him now. “You’re too good to me. You help me be strong. You always have. I love you more than I can put into words.”

“I love you too. I always will.” Butters felt a small kiss be pressed to the top of his head, and he quickly relaxed some more. “Try and get some sleep, okay? We can talk more in the morning if you want.”

“Okay… goodnight, Ken.”

“Night Buttercup.” 

Thank god things were back to normal. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;w; thank you guys sm as usual for your nice comments and kudos! <3 thank u guys sm for reading. There is prob only two chapters left for this story, but I had such a good time writing it! I'm excited for the fic I have planned after this, so I guess be on the lookout for that when this one is over. It'll be bunny as well!! uwu;


	20. Another Birthday Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter ended up SO long oh my god  
> I had a lot of fun writing it though!!

Another week had gone by since Kenny and Butters talked everything over. The topic of Kenny’s deaths had come up a few times throughout the week, but the both of them didn’t enjoy talking about it for very long. It was definitely something that needed to be talked about occasionally though, and it seemed to actually be helping both of them. Kenny finally had someone to talk to about his deaths, and Butters could vent about them without lying now too. It was well needed for the both of them. 

The pair already were always there for each other, but now they could be there for each other no matter what. No more secrets or hiding. Everything is out in the open, and they planned to keep it that way. 

Butters had flipped basically an entire 180 from where he had been only a little over a week prior. He went from never leaving his apartment, to almost never going home to it. He spent all his time at Kenny’s apartment, to the point that he even showered there when he needed to. Kenny didn’t seem to have any problem with it though, and if anything, he welcomed it. Tweek was nice enough to give Kenny his job back at the coffee shop after some minor convincing from Butters. Butters even offered to take Kenny’s shifts if anything ever came up and he couldn’t make it himself, and Tweek accepted it, thankfully. 

Kenny was busy with a shift at the coffee shop for the first half of the day, leaving Butters alone at the apartment to spend most of his time playing Mario Kart. He got a bit addicted to it when he started getting so good at it, so he kept practicing, and now it was almost hard for Kenny to ever beat him at it. It also helped to have time pass by quickly, and before he even knew it, he heard the lock of the front door be clicked open. 

Quickly pausing the game, Butters set the controller down and was bouncing up to his feet to make his way towards the door. “Welcome home, Kenny!” He didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around him in a big hug, immediately picking up on the faint coffee smell from him that he always had when he got home from work. It was a nice detail that he always enjoyed.

Kenny let out a chuckle as he returned the hug, and a soft kiss was pressed to the top of Butters’ hair. “Hey Buttercup. How was your day so far?” He pulled away from the hug to shut the door behind him and Butters took a step back, excitedly rocking on his heels in front of him. 

“Good! I played Mario Kart the whole time! How was work?”

“It was good. Not too busy today, so just kinda boring, really.” Kenny leaned down to press a brief kiss to Butters’ lips, and began heading past him towards his bedroom. “I’m ready for a shower though. When I’m done, I have somewhere I want us to go, if that’s okay with you?” Kenny stopped in the doorway of his bedroom, glancing back in Butters’ direction.

Butters nodded eagerly. “That sounds fine to me! Go get yourself clean, smelly.” Kenny only responded by sticking his tongue out childishly at him at the slight insult, and it made Butters giggle a little as he made his way back onto the couch. Kenny took his sweet time with his showers, so Butters picked his controller back up and unpaused it, returning to the race he had been in the middle of. 

As he expected, it took a couple races until Kenny finally finished his shower. Butters paused the game when he heard Kenny walking back towards the living room and quickly smiled when he turned his head to catch sight of him. 

“Alright, I’m not smelly anymore. We should stop up at your apartment so you can get your own change of clothes, too. As much as I love you wearing mine, you should wear your own for where we are going.”

Butters hummed in curiosity at the suggestion and he pushed himself to his feet. “ _Where_ exactly are we going?”

“Surprise.” Kenny snickered immediately after when Butters let out a whine. 

“You always say that!” Butters pouted at him, but Kenny remained stern in his statement. 

“Okay, well I really mean it this time. Well, I meant it the other times too, but, especially this time, yeah?” Kenny stepped closer to him to ruffle his hair, and Butters childishly pushed his hand away with a larger pout. “Come onnn, it’ll be worth it. Promise.” 

Butters felt Kenny grab one of his hands, and he was forced to wipe the pout from his face with a sigh. “Okayyy. It better be! I’ll be real sour if it isn’t!”

“Gotcha. Can we go now?” Kenny was already trying to pull him towards the door and Butters quickly began to laugh.

“Funny to see you be the one trying to rush us out the door for once, you know.” Kenny quickly hushed him before breaking out into another chuckle. 

-

It only took a quick trip to Butters’ apartment for him to change into his own pair of clothes for them to get into Kenny’s truck and begin the drive to where Kenny was taking them. By the end of the short drive, Butters’ was already suspicious of where exactly they were going, and it was made all the more clear when they ended up where he was thinking. Tweek and Craig’s house. What was even more suspicious was the larger number of cars parked around the street than usual.

“What are we doing here, Ken?” Butters tilted his head in confusion, glancing towards the blonde. Kenny only sent him a grin and pushed his door open as he stepped out.

“Again, it’s a surprise. Come on.”

Butters narrowed his eyes a little, already even more suspicious of what was planned. He had a small idea, but he decided to not voice it. Instead, he wordlessly pushed himself out of the truck and followed after Kenny up to the house. Kenny briefly knocked on the door, but instead of the door being opened, Butters only heard it be unlocked from the other side. 

Kenny sent him another grin, motioning towards the door and stepping aside. “After you.”

Butters tilted his head again, raising a brow at the odd circumstances. He didn’t argue though, and stepped forward and took hold of the doorknob, pushing the door open. The house was nearly pitch black, despite it being four in the afternoon, and it threw Butters off at first. As he stepped inside he glanced around and reached blindly for where he knew the light switch was. When he flipped it on, however, he was almost a little startled by the sound that reached his ears, as well as the sight in front of him.

“Happy Birthday Butters!”

The collective voices of everyone gathered around the living room in front of him rang into his ears and Butters could only stand in shock for a moment. Tweek, Craig, Stan and Kyle were gathered around in front of him with various birthday decorations strung around the room. 

Butters was snapped out of his shocked trance when he felt an arm wrap over his shoulders, and he glanced towards where it came from to meet eyes with Kenny who was sending him a bright smile.

“Surprised?” Kenny raised a brow at him. Butters didn’t hesitate to quickly nod a couple times. 

“I.. well, yeah! Oh gosh, you guys didn’t have to do this. My birthday was two weeks ago, you know?” Butters’ cheeks flushed a little in somewhat embarrassment as he glanced back at the other four boys, feeling a little flustered with the attention he was getting. 

“Well, we never got to do anything for it! Better late than never!” Tweek spoke up excitedly. He stepped forward and happily grabbed onto one of Butters’ hands, pulling him forward more into the house. “Come on! Let’s just have a good time!”

Butters smiled brighter now, unable to find any reason to disagree. “Okay! Well, thank you a lot, fellas. I wasn’t expecting anything, really.”

Kyle was the next to speak up as he sat himself comfortably on the couch with Stan quickly sitting with him. “Well, we couldn’t miss it. You always are throwing parties for all of us.”

“Yeah, it wouldn’t be fair of us to not do the same for you, you know?” Stan decided to add. He then grinned brightly, motioning to one of the free chairs in the room. “Sit down, dude. We even got you presents!”

Butters blinked a bit in surprise, his cheeks remaining red at the information. “Presents??”

“Yeah!” Tweek’s excitement refused to die down, obviously happy to be able to do this for his friend. He still had hold of one of Butters’ hands, so he led him along to one of the chairs and sat him down. Butters fiddled with his hands a bit nervously, having had some suspicions that the surprise had something to do with his birthday, but not to this extent. 

“Craig, Kenny, can you guys go grab the presents?” Tweek glanced up to the pair, and Craig only quietly nodded and began to walk towards the coat closet under the stairs. Kenny attempted to race him there despite Craig only walking. Kenny launched himself forward while pressing down on Craig’s shoulder, making him almost lose his balance in the process. Craig quickly began to bicker with him while the two of them dug through the closet for the presents, and Butters couldn’t help but giggle at the sight. As much as he’d love for Kenny to not constantly get on Craig’s nerves, he knew full well it was just how the two were. 

“I really appreciate this, fellas. Did you guys have anything planned for today?” Butters felt curious. Clearly, it was a party, but he wasn’t sure if they had any activities planned outside of just the presents.

“Well,” Tweek started, “After presents we do have a cake for you! Then, we were probably gonna get some drinks and just kinda hang out, you know? We can use the fire pit again tonight too! We have another surprise for you too, but we will get to that in a bit.”

Butters quickly whined, pouting at him just as Craig and Kenny began to come back with the presents in hand. “It’s always surprises! No fair.” He was quickly distracted from his moment of pouting when one of the presents was pushed into his lap. It was ridiculously large and practically blocked his view of the room when it was sat in his lap. 

“Present time, Buttercup! Here, you can open Ky and Stan’s first.” Kenny sent him a bright smile as he set the other presents in his hand on the coffee table with Craig doing the same. Everyone took a seat in the free seats around the living room. There weren't enough seats for Kenny to sit anywhere, so he took a seat on the coffee table despite a slight glare he got from Craig as he did so. 

Once he was sure he was good to start opening it, Butters began to rip off the cute Hello Kitty wrapping paper that covered the large box until he was left with just a cardboard box. It was thankfully easy enough to open, and soon enough he placed the box down onto the floor in front of him to pull out what was inside. He gasped out loud in excitement immediately at sight of it. It was a giant plush of Hello Kitty that was pretty much half his size. 

“I love this so much! Aww, thank you so much Kyle and Stan!!” Butters hugged the plush close as he sent the pair a bright smile. “I appreciate it!!”

Kyle nodded, returning the smile with his own. “I thought you would! I’m really glad you like it, man.”

“I love it!!” Butters hugged onto it a bit tighter for a short moment, before he reluctantly set it aside so he could move on to the next present. Tweek stood up abruptly to reach for the only bagged present on the table, handing it to him next.

“You can open mine next. I hope you like it.” Tweek sat himself back down, obviously eager for Butters to open it up. 

Butters was already even more excited than he had been before, and began to dig through the bag and pull out all the paper hiding the contents inside. He smiled even wider when he was met with two different items. He pulled out the one that caught his eye first, it being another stuffed toy. It was another Hello Kitty plush, but much smaller than the one Kyle and Stan had gotten him. It was only slightly bigger than his hand, but Butters loved it just as much. 

“This is so cute! Thank you, Tweek!” Butters gave the toy a brief hug before setting it aside and digging back into the bag. He grabbed hold of the ceramic inside, and smiled wide as he looked over it. It was a simple little coffee mug with some patterns of various hamsters drawings on it. “Oh cute!! Aw, I love this too! I love the hamsters…” Butters continued looking over the cup before looking back towards Tweek again. “Thanks, Tweek!”

“It’s no big deal! I’m glad you like them, Butters.” Tweek had his own smile stuck on his face even as he went to take a sip from his own mug in his hands. After he was done, he motioned towards Craig and then to the table. “Go ahead and give Butters your present now, babe.”

Craig wordlessly nodded and got up to grab his own gift, but Kenny swiftly picked it up just before he could. Kenny gave him a smug grin as he went and handed it to Butters.

“Here you are, _dear._ ” 

Kenny was quickly sent a glare from Craig, but with just a sigh, he sat himself back down in his chair again. “I hope you like it.”

Butters didn’t hesitate to begin ripping open the present and digging into the box hidden under the wrapping. He gasped aloud when he saw what was inside, and pulled out yet another stuffed animal. It wasn’t Hello Kitty this time, though. Instead, it was a cute little plush possum, and Butters couldn’t help but smile even brighter. “Aww! This is so cute, it reminds me of Kenny. He used to have that pet possum, remember?” Butters sent Craig a grateful smile as he gave the toy the same treatment as the other, giving it a tight hug. “Thank you, Craig!”

“No problem.” 

Kenny sighed a little, leaning his head back while closing his eyes. “Ahh, I miss Mr.Possy. He was such a good boy.” He quickly cheered up after that, tilting his head back down with another smile as he grabbed his own gift. He quickly handed it over to Butters. “Alright, mine last. Hope you like it, Buttercup.”

Butters felt overly excited to see what Kenny had gotten him. He loved all the presents he had gotten, but he was sure he would love what Kenny got him no matter what. He wordlessly began to rip the packaging open, already noticing how soft the gift felt. It wasn’t a box or anything, definitely. It made all the more sense when he saw what was inside, though. It was a cute package of different Hello Kitty themed socks, all themed around the different characters. “Oh!! This is adorable, Ken! They look so comfy.” 

“Socks?” Stan spoke up incredulously, glancing to Kenny in confusion. Kenny only shrugged.

“You like them, Leo?”

Butters nodded immediately, looking up to the blonde with a grin. “Of course! I love them so much, Ken!” Butters pushed himself up to step forward and wrap his arms around Kenny with a happy hum in his throat. “Thank you!~” 

Kenny couldn’t help but chuckle a little as he pat Butters’ pack into the hug. “I’m glad. I’m sure they’ll look great on you."

Butters blushed a little at the comment, but didn’t let it phase him too much. He pushed himself back to his feet, looking over all his gifts and then back to his friends. “Thank you all for the gifts! I love all of them a lot.” 

With a small clap of his hands, Kenny was suddenly pushing himself up to his feet. “Well, now that the presents are done- I don’t know about all of you, but I’m starving. How about we get to some cake, eh?"

Everyone quickly agreed, and already began to herd their way into the kitchen. The cake Butters ended up met with was, maybe unsurprisingly, also Hello Kitty themed. It was so cute! Tweek took a short moment to light the candles that were spread out around the cake and after a quick song of Happy Birthday from everyone, the candles were quickly blown out. 

You were supposed to make wishes when you blow the candles out, right? Butters made a mental wish that Kenny wouldn’t have to suffer anymore. Probably a feeble wish, but it was worth a shot. He didn’t allow the thought to ruin his mood though, and he kept up his happy attitude as they all began to dig into the cake one by one. 

When the cake was finished, and already nearly completely gone at that, Tweek called for everyone to gather in the backyard. Everyone already started on some alcoholic drinks while they had been eating cake. Well, everyone except Tweek, of course. Butters had been confused why they were heading into the backyard, but it was made clear pretty quickly. 

Hanging from one of the two trees in the yard was a decently sized pinata of Hello Kitty. Butters couldn’t help but laugh a little once he caught sight of it. 

“Well, I’m glad I make it clear to you guys that I really like Hello Kitty.”

“Well, duh. You’ve always liked it a lot, man.” Tweek quickly pointed out, chuckling a little as he picked up the plastic bat he had sat against the tree, as well as a cloth to be used as a blindfold. He was already handing Butters the bat now. “Birthday boy gets to go first!”

Butters took the bat into his hands just before his vision was gone as the cloth was pulled over his eyes by Tweek. He couldn’t help but laugh a little to himself in excitement. It had been forever since he got to hit a pinata, and even if they were grown now, it didn’t make it any less exciting. Not to mention, the alcohol was already starting to kick in a little, making everything somewhat more exciting than usual. 

“Alright, I’m gonna spin you a few times and then you just start swinging in front of you!” Tweek informed him and Butters nodded in response. Like that, he already felt himself begin to be spun around, and he already started to feel a little dizzy on his feet after only three spins. Tweek stopped him after five spins, and he felt hands on each of his arms as he was carefully positioned in front of the pinata.

“Alright, go for it, man!”

Butters didn’t hesitate after that to start swinging the bat in front of him, already successfully hitting the paper mass after only a single missed swing. He gave it a good few swings, but it was clear he hadn’t gotten through it very much. Eventually, he stopped and reached up to pull the blindfold off to survey the damage he had done.

The pinata only had a few dents in it now, but it was still very much intact. He supposed it would take a lot more than that to crack it open. So, he turned back around to everyone with a smile. “Who wants to go next?”

“OH me me me!” Stan’s voice suddenly rang out, although it was clear he was already a little more drunk than Butters was. No one else tried to argue for their own turn though, so Butters stepped over and handed him the bat.

“Okay! You can go next then.” Butters led him over to the same spot he had been standing and put the blindfold on him. “Ready?” 

Stan quickly nodded and Butters already got to spinning him around just as he had been. After the same amount of spins, he stopped him carefully in front of the pinata and stepped away from him. 

“Go ahead, Stan!”

Stan quickly began to swing the bat probably much harder than he needed to immediately. So much so, the pinata actually swung so much he began to miss a couple times. IN response, he seemed to only try swinging even harder, which seemed to backfire as the bat finally slipped out of his hands at the end of a swing, sending it flying back behind him. A quick loud THUNK and a groan that sounded of a mix of pain and irritation sounded immediately made it easy to guess what happened.

“Dude! What the fuck!?” Craig’s voice rang out irritably, and he had a hand held over his forehead. Uh oh.

“Huh?” Stan pulled the blindfold off and turned himself around, before giving a sheepish smile with a shrug. “My bad. It slipped.”

“Yeah, obviously. You fucking idiot.” Craig groaned again, rubbing his forehead in pain before leaning down and picking up the bat. He flung it in Stan’s direction, but Stan easily dodged it with a fearful yelp.

“Dude, Sorry! I didn’t mean to.”

“Alright, alright, both of you chill out.” Kyle spoke up now, sighing right after. He walked over to grab onto Stan’s hand, beginning to lead him back away from the pinata now. “You had enough of that.”

“Aww, but I barely got any swings in!”

“It’s probably better that way.”

Butters blinked as he watched the events unfold, almost a little unsurprised. Kenny was laughing about it, so Butters turned his attention to him next. “You wanna go next, Ken?”

Kenny was forced to stop his laughter, turning to Butters with some chuckles still coming out of him. “Yeah, I think I’ll try.” Kenny walked over to pick the bat up from the snow after he grabbed the blindfold from Stan. He wordlessly pulled the blindfold on himself after he stood in front of the pinata. “Wanna come spin me, Buttercup?”

Butters hummed in agreement as he stepped back over to the tree to stand behind him. He carefully spun him around a couple times before stopping him in the correct direction. He stepped back again a safe distance.

“Alright, you’re good, Ken!”

Kenny nodded once and quickly got to swinging. He was much more precise about it than Stan had been, despite also being a little drunk himself. He handled his alcohol far better than he did, after all. He got a few really good swings in, and finally the pinata looked to be giving away.

“It’s so closeee! You got this, Kenny!!” Stan cheered his friend on excitedly before breaking into giggles from where he was practically leaning against Kyle. “Wooo hoo!”

“Go Ken!!” Butters joined into the cheering. Kenny responded to the encouragement by giving a few more strong swings in until it finally cracked open and the sound of candy dropping out of it and into the snow sounded out. Everyone cheered in excitement, and Kenny finally reached up to pull his blindfold off. 

“Easy peasy! That was nothing.”

Butters giggled a little as he stepped over with everyone to lean down and grab some of the candy for himself. “I just made it easier for you. That’s all.”

“Yeah? I guess so. I did most of it though.” Kenny chuckled when Butters only responded by sticking his tongue out at him. They all collectively grabbed themselves some candy before heading back inside. Butters suggested that they play a game, and eventually they all decided on charades. Everyone was already getting much more drunk than they had been, so it would probably be either really fun or really chaotic. Maybe both!

They decided to all split into teams according to their dates, since that seemed easiest. So, Kenny and Butters got to have their turn first. Tweek looked up a randomizer made specifically for charades on his phone and handed it to Butters for him to get a word. One he had one picked for him, Butters handed the phone back over and pushed himself up to his feet to move to the front of the living room in front of everyone. 

“Okayy, timer for three minutes starts… now!” Tweek spoke up as soon as he hit the timer on his phone, already excited to see how this game was going to go, clearly. He was the only sober one, so maybe he had an advantage, too.

Butters kept the word in his head, and tried his best to think of how to act it out. He raised his hands above his head to attempt to mimic that he was wearing a large hat, and Kenny was already spitting out guesses. 

“Hat! Hat? Uhh-” Butters made a motion of tipping the imaginary hat and motioning to it. He then did his best to pretend he was digging his hand into it for something. “Pouch! Secret? Secret pouch!” Butters almost groaned at the horrible guesses. He pulled his fist up to act out pulling something from the hat, and Kenny seemed to finally be getting closer. “E-Endless hat?? Uh- Rabbit? OH oh! Magic?” Butters eagerly nodded while flailing his arms in a urging motion. He raised one of his fists now, using his other hand to mimic holding a stick, or in this case a wand, and tapped the imaginary item over the top of his other hand. He quickly makes a ‘ta-da!’ motion afterwards. “Magic.. Uhh.. uh. Trick? Magic trick??”

“30 seconds!” Tweek spoke up, and Butters grew impatient. He had to hold back a groan as he tried motioning to himself as a whole, before repeating both of his previous actions quickly as well. 

“Magic, magic…. Uh… Magician?”

“Yes!!” Butters finally cheered, sighing out with relief. “Oh my god, I thought you really weren’t going to get that one, Ken. Geez.” Butters quickly sat himself back down next to him with a huff.

Kenny was laughing a little as he wrapped an arm around him. “Shh. Hey, at least I got it, right?” 

“My turn!” Stan spoke up as he pushed himself to his feet, but Kyle shook his head and pushed him back down, getting up instead.

“I will go first. You guess.” Stan gave a short pout at that, but he didn’t give any attempt to argue. Tweek quickly reset the timer as Kyle got up to the front of the room, and gave the usual call out for them to start, and Kyle was immediately moving. 

Kyle made a motion that was clearly looking around in the dark with a flashlight by his head, and Stan quickly started to guess. 

“Dark! Dark. Dark. Flashlight. Light.” Kyle continued, now making a motion as if reaching for a gun at his side, holding his other arm out in a ‘stay back’ motion. “Scared. Fear. Gun. Gun! Gun. Shoot. Bullet. Gun.” Kyle rolled his eyes, now moving a hand up to the left of his chest to use two fingers and grab at what was probably supposed to be a badge or name tag of some sort. More and More feeble guesses from Stan came until they only had a minute left. Stan seemed to finally begin putting it all together in his brain, and he began to guess the only thing that he could think of, apparently. “Oh!! Oh oh! Is it mall cop? A mall cop?” 

Kyle made an expression that was clearly a wordless telling of ‘you’re close’ but it went right over Stan’s head, and he only continued.

“Cop? Mall cop? Police Officer? Cop? Cop! Is it a cop, dude. Come on, it’s mall cop right? Mall cop!”

“Time’s up!” Tweek spoke up cheerfully as the timer rang out loudly from his phone, before being quickly silenced. The silence was immediately broken as Kyle all about yelling in frustration.

“Dude! If it clearly wasn’t right the first 10 times, why do you just keep saying the same thing? Oh my god.” Kyle rubbed a hand down his face as he reluctantly moved back to his seat, plopping down into the cushion. “It was security guard.”

“Maybe you should have had me do the acting?” Stan suggested innocently.

“Shut up, Stan.” Kyle quickly retorted back to him in a defeated voice. 

Tweek pushed himself to his feet now, handing the phone over to Butters after he had a word picked for him. “You’re in charge of the timer this round.” With that, he moved up to the front of the room now. Butters called out for the timer to start, and Tweek got to acting. He mimicked holding a bag in one of his hands while he used the other to dig into it repeatedly and bring it up to his mouth. He faked chewing in between the movements to add to it as well, and Craig got to guessing quickly. 

“Food. Eat. Chew. Chips. Snack.”

“Yay!! It was Snack. You’re so good at this, honey.” Tweek praised Craig excitedly, stepping back to their seat to hug him briefly in his excitement. 

Kyle groaned. “That one was so easy!”

“Not my fault that’s what it gave me!” Tweek quickly countered.

The group went through a few more hectic rounds of charades, everyone only getting more and more drunk as time went on. They finally called the game off when everyone seemed to be getting too drunk to even guess anything right anymore. Of course, Tweek and Craig won by a landslide. With Tweek’s soberness, and Craig’s ability to make guesses without any of the bullshit, they made a perfect team for this game. Kyle and Stan were stuck in dead last with barely any points at all, and Butters and Kenny ended up somewhere in the middle in terms of points. 

Everyone collectively stumbled their way back out into the backyard after that. The group all already agreed they wanted to use the fire pit, despite Tweek’s slight dismay due to how drunk everyone already was. Butters was able to assure him that everyone would be safe, and Tweek reluctantly found himself agreeing. 

So, within a couple minutes the fire was already brought to life while everyone gathered themselves around it. The group made some small talk at first, but Kenny was the first to make a new suggestion on what they should do with their time.

“I know it’s getting late but, before this party comes to an end-- We should play some good ol’ truth or dare!!”

There was a collective agreement from everyone after that, and since Kenny was the one to suggest it, he was given the right to go first. So, he turned to Butters first.

“Alright birthday boy. Truth or Dare?”

Butters blinked at the sudden question. He thought about it for a short second before humming in his throat when he came to a decision. “Truth.”

Kenny scoffed. “Boring. Alright then, uhh..” He put a hand over his chin and glanced up towards the night sky, thinking hard about what exactly to ask. He smiled when something seemed to finally come to mind, and he looked to Butters again. “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”

“Worst thing??” Butters furrowed his brows in thought immediately. He really had to think about that one. “Hmm… Well- I hacked Stan’s Facebook once.”

“Huh??? Wait, THAT WAS YOU?” Stan sat up straighter at that. Kenny only began to laugh.

“That’s the _worst_ thing?? Come on, Buttercup.”

“You don’t remember? Stan made me real mad, so I spread a lot of lies on his page. I don’t know, I was pretty mean about it.”

“Yeah, I had so many people angry with me that week, what the fuck! Butters!! I can’t believe it was you the whole time. I tore Cartman apart because I thought he did it."

“Oh well, fuck him anyway.” Kenny decided to add to that with a chuckle. He nudged Butters after that. “Alright, good enough, I guess. Your turn.”

“Okay! Uhm, Kyle! You next. Truth or Dare?”

“Truth.”

“Another truth? You guys are no fun.” Kenny whined but Butters quickly hushed him. 

Butters rocked a little in his seat, not taking long to think before he came up with a good question. “Who would you call to help you hide a body?”

“Huh? Hmm… Good question. A part of me wants to say Stan but…” He gave a glance towards the boy in question, before shaking his head with a small laugh. “I don’t think he’d keep his cool. I think I’d call Kenny, honestly.”

“Eyy. Good choice. I’d definitely help you hide a body, dude.” Kenny laughed.

“Good to know. I guess it’s my turn, huh?”

A couple more rounds went by after that. Dares finally began to get mixed into the game. Craig got dared to chug more alcohol straight from the bottle, which he agreed to, of course. It got him much drunker in almost no time at all. Tweek refused to ask for any dares. He simply did not trust anyone’s judgement right now. It was probably a good call, because the dares only got worse and worse as the game went on.

Kenny was dared to eat a bug by Craig, and he did it with confidence. It clearly tasted disgusting, but Kenny refused to let it show. Kenny then dared Stan to take more shots, which immediately brought out arguments from Kyle who insisted that Stan had already drunk plenty. 

The game continued without anyone getting hurt, thankfully. Maybe a little sick, though. Everyone was starting to feel exhausted. Especially Butters, so the party was finally called to an end at around one in the morning. 

Kenny and Butters were both a little too drunk to drive, so Tweek offered to let them spend the night. Kenny declined though, and said they’d simply walk home and come back for the truck later. So, with some final goodbyes, Butters gathered up his gifts with some help from Kenny and they began their walk back towards the apartments. 

Butters was glad he was still so buzzed, because he was sure he’d feel way too nervous walking so late at night with Kenny like this, considering what happened the last time they did. Thankfully, they got home safe, and Butters gave a small yawn once they were safe inside.

“Hey, Buttercup. Before we head to bed, I have one more present for you.”

“Huh? Another one?” Butters blinked at him in surprise as he set his presents down on the couch. Kenny followed along and set the last of them on the couch as well. He began to dig through his pocket after that.

“Yeah, uh, I was waiting until we got home to give it to you.” He soon pulled out a very small wrapped present that could fit in the palm of your hand. Butters was immediately curious what it could even be. He took it into his hands and carefully began to open up the package, and widened his eyes a bit in surprise when he saw what exactly was inside. A small key, that was clearly a copy of the key to Kenny’s apartment, was in his hand. He looked up to Kenny in shock, unable to help the smile that quickly came over his face.

“Kenny- is this-?”

“Yep. I know you’ve been having a hard time finding new work and you won’t be able to pay your rent within the next month, right? So, I was wondering if, uh… you wanted to move in with me? And then we can move out of these shitty apartments. You know, like, into an actual house?” Kenny spoke almost a little nervously. He probably wasn’t expecting a no, but it was a big question regardless. 

Butters continued to stare at him in surprise for a good moment, trying to wrap his head around what exactly he was being asked. He was already having such a good time staying at Kenny’s apartment, it never even occurred to him that they could get a place together. But, now that it was said, it was definitely something he was interested in. A bright smile came over his face and he couldn’t stop himself from leaping forward to hug onto him tightly.

“Ken! That sounds great! I’d love to do that with you!~ How could I say no??”

Kenny hummed happily as he pressed a few kisses to the top of Butters’ head, returning the hug just as tightly. “I’m so glad, Butterfly. I love you. I can’t wait to get to spend all my time with you.”

“I’m excited too, Ken. I love you so much!” 

Butters pulled back from the hug a little just so he could see his face. He almost felt a little emotional about all this. He always dreamed of ‘running away’ with Kenny when he was younger. While this wasn’t necessarily running away by any means, he still got to live his life with him. It was all he could ask for. Butters happily pressed a kiss to Kenny’s lips while wrapping his arms snugly around the back of his neck. He allowed them to melt into each other after that point, and the two would share many soft words and kisses until they finally got into bed to drift away to sleep in each other's arms. 

Butters wasn’t sure he’d ever felt so happy in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe the next chapter is going to be the last one... that's so wild. I've never gone through a whole fic like this before and it's given me a lot of confidence! I'm super excited to write what I have planned after this fic! ;w; <3 tysm as usual for the kudos and commentss ahhhhh


	21. Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> final chapter time babey

Butters felt himself slowly begin to come to his senses. The soft sounds of birds chirping filled his ears and the faint smell of coffee reached his nose as he began to wake up. Soon enough something else came to his ears as well: a soft voice.

“Leooo. Wake up, Buttercup.~” 

Butters couldn’t help the smile that immediately began to come over his face before he even opened his eyes. When he did open them, however, his smile only widened more. Kenny was leaning onto the bed next to him, mere inches away from his face, and it caused a small giggle to bubble out of Butters’ throat. 

“Good morning, Ken.” Butters’ voice was groggy with sleep, but his mood was already at a high. He was almost never in a bad mood nowadays. 

Kenny raised a hand up to playfully ruffle it through Butters’ already messy hair. “You excited for today? I made us some coffee, if you want some. I was about to start on some breakfast.” 

“Of course I’m excited!” Butters was already gaining his usual amount of energy within only the minute of him being awake, and he sat up. “Also, that sounds nice.. I’d love some.” Butters made a move to get out of the bed, but Kenny gently pushed him back down. 

“You wait here. I’ll bring it all to you, okay? I wanna eat here and watch the TV with you.” 

Butters tilted his head, but quickly put a smile back on his face after it had disappeared in surprise. “Well, okay, Ken. I’ll be here, then.”

Kenny leaned down and pressed a brief kiss to his lips, and Butters felt the hand run through his messy hair again. “I’ll be back in a bit.” With that, Kenny stood back up and headed out the room. Butters let himself relax back into the bed after he fished around the nightstand for the remote to the TV. When Butters had moved into the apartment, they put Butters’ television into Kenny’s bedroom. Or, rather, their bedroom. He flipped the device on and began to search through the channel for something good to watch.

He had been staying with Kenny at his apartment for a few months now, and it was already late into November. But they finally had enough saved up to leave the tiny space to get themselves an actual place. Well, rent one, at least. 

Kenny’s lease was going to be up soon, so they had been looking at houses for a while. They think they had finally found one that was perfect for them. So, they planned to go look at it today, and to say Butters was excited was an understatement. He was  _ thrilled _ at the mere idea of living in a house with Kenny. It was like everything was finally falling right into place, just like he always dreamed. 

Butters eventually decided on something for them to watch, and it wasn’t too long before Kenny returned to the bedroom. He had two plates of food balanced on his arms and two coffee mugs in his hands. Butters couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“You really couldn’t have me come help you bring that stuff in here? What if you dropped it!”

Kenny scoffed at that, successfully placing the mugs down on the nightstand and then placing both the plates onto the bed. “Never. I’m too good for that.” Kenny gave Butters’ a wink, and Butters only responded with a playful roll of his eyes. He turned his attention to the food after that though, his stomach already churning with hunger at the smell of the food. 

A simple breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast was on the plate, and Butters was already excited to dig in. He reached over for his coffee first though, a smile coming to his face when he saw Kenny had grabbed him the mug Tweek got him for his birthday. He loved this thing so much. 

Butters hummed in delight when he took a sip from the warm drink, glancing to Kenny as he sat himself down next to him. “I’m glad all that coffee experience you have now lets you remember how I like my coffee. How sweet of you, Ken..” Butters added a somewhat teasing tone to the end of his sentence before taking another sip of the drink. 

“Hey! I would have remembered anyway… maybe.” 

“Mhmm.” Butters only gave a hum of response, breaking into a laugh when Kenny gave him a pout. “I believe you. Really.” 

“Shh. Just eat the food before it gets cold.” Kenny gave him a small nudge, before taking a bite into his toast. Butters gave another laugh but didn’t make any more comments after that, beginning to dig into his own food. 

-

Their morning continued on peacefully from then on, filled with cuddles and mindlessly watching television. That, or not even paying attention to it at all, and rather focused on playing with each other’s hair and melting into soft love-filled kisses. 

Eventually, noon came around and they finally forced themselves to climb out of bed to begin their plans for the day. Butters was already freshened up and dressed by the time Kenny was only halfway ready, and Butters gave his usual amount of protests to Kenny’s slow speed. Thankfully, Kenny didn’t purposefully drag it out this time, and soon enough they were leaving the apartment for their first destination. 

Butters all about pressed his face against the car window as they eventually pulled up to the house. It was only a street over from where Tweek and Craig’s house was, which already made it appealing to Butters. It made the walk there much shorter than it was from the apartments. Not to mention, this made it closer to their favorite spots to go to as well; Like the park, and the lake. It was perfect, and they hadn’t even looked inside yet!

As soon as the truck came to a stop, Butters was already pulling his seatbelt off and pushing himself out onto the sidewalk. Kenny laughed as he slowly got out himself. 

“The house isn’t going to run away, Buttercup.”

Butters was practically bouncing in place as he waited at the porch for Kenny to catch up to him. “I’m excited though! I wanna see it!” 

“Well, let’s go then. It should be open.”

It was currently an open house, and so sure enough, Butters had no problem opening up the front door. He felt nerves suddenly bubble up in his gut as he stepped inside. It’s layout was much similar to all the houses in South Park, although it was only a single story unlike all the two story houses littering the town. It was perfect, though.

Butters eagerly made his way through the house while keeping a tight hold on one of Kenny’s hands, pointing out every little detail that stood out to him. The house even had two bedrooms, which would allow them to use the second one for whatever they wanted. They’d probably end up just making it a guest room, but there were a lot of possibilities. Even with the house being a single story, it was practically thrice as big as the apartment they had been sharing, and Butters couldn’t wait to move in. Well, if they agreed to take it, that was. 

So, when they finished taking a look through the whole house, Butters rocked on his heels excitedly and gave a small hum in his throat. “Hmm… Sooo- Do you wanna get it? I think I like this place the most out of all the places we’ve looked at.”

Kenny gave Butters a smile after briefly giving the house a glance, nodding. “If you like it too, then I don’t see why not. It’s in our budget and everything, you know?"

“Mhm!! Oh, I’m so glad you like it too, Ken!” Butters was bouncing with excitement again before he wrapped his arms around Kenny in a tight hug. “I’m so excited!”

Kenny returned the hug with another small laugh. “I’m glad you’re excited. I am too! Well, let’s go ahead and give the owner a call then, huh?”

-

A quick phone call later, they now just had to wait a bit to see if they would be approved. Lucky for them, no one has given offers on the house yet. It was pretty freshly up for rent, so they were lucky enough to be one of the first to see it. The pair spent the rest of their day grabbing some food and then walking around town talking about everything and nothing at all.

Eventually, they got a call back from the owner a few days later, and were thrilled to hear that they got approved for the house and were free to move in within the end of the next week. The two didn’t hesitate to begin packing up their stuff for the move. Butters felt grateful they had Kenny’s pick up to help make the move easier on them, too. Craig and Stan even agreed to help them with the moving. 

“Alright, ready? 3, 2, 1, lift!” Kenny and Craig shared a grunt of effort as they lifted up the couch from the living room. 

“Why is this shit so damn heavy, what the hell.” Craig complained as they carefully began to make their way to the front door. The couch just barely fit through it, thankfully. 

“Well, I am glad our apartment is on the first floor, huh? Moving shit out of Butters’ apartment was awful.” Kenny laughed a little, keeping his head turned around to watch where he was going as he was stuck walking backwards.

“God, I am glad too.” Craig agreed with him. 

The couch was successfully pushed up onto the bed of Kenny’s truck, and they both shared a sigh of relief. 

“Almost done. Only a couple more things left, this should be the last trip.”

“Thank god.” Stan’s voice spoke up as he came up behind them with a box in his hands. He pushed it up onto the bed of the truck before stretching out his back a little. “I don’t know how you guys fit so much crap in that apartment.”

“Well, Butters had a lot of stuff put in there when he moved in, even after he sold a lot of stuff. Obviously, it was all just kinda taking up space, though..” Kenny explained with a shrug. The three made their way back towards the apartment. “We’ll have plenty of space for everything at the house, though.”

Stan nodded as he leaned down to pick up another box that was sat next to the front door. “I’m really happy for you two, dude. I’m sure it’ll be great for you guys.” 

Kenny chuckled a little at that, lifting up a nightstand that had been moved into the living room for convenience sake. “I appreciate it, man. I’m super excited about this.” 

Once the three had the last of everything in the apartment loaded into the back of the truck, Kenny playfully said a goodbye to the apartment one last time before locking up the door and leaving for the truck. 

Butters was busy unpacking some of the boxes already at the house from their first few trips when the three returned to the house. He quickly smiled when they entered the building, already pushing himself back up to his feet to greet them.

“Welcome back, fellas! Thank you again for helping with this.”

“It’s no problem.” Craig set the box in arms down near the front door before turning right back around to head back out to the truck with Stan following behind him after depositing his own box.

Kenny set down the nightstand he had grabbed, but didn’t head back for the truck right away. He instead stepped over to Butters, pressing a small kiss to his forehead. “Hey, Butterbean. How is the unpacking going?”

“Good! I got most of the kitchen stuff unpacked already, actually. I was going to start on the bedroom next, I think.” Butters had that neverending bright smile on his face. He just couldn’t seem to stop it. “We should get as much unpacking done as possible tonight! Well, if you aren’t too tired from moving, that is.”

“Ah, I’m okay. It’ll take much more than that to tire me out.” Kenny sent him a smug smirk. He sighed dramatically right after though, turning himself back around to head for the door. “Those two will kill me if I let them do all the work, so I guess I gotta get back to it.”

Butters sang a little hum in his throat. “Don’t work too hard!~” He turned back to the box he had been unpacking before, digging through it to look for anything that was meant specifically for their bedroom. 

-

It only took the two of them a couple days to get all their things unpacked and put in place throughout the house. They were a bit lacking in decorations, but that was always something they could get around to later. The house was already so much more homey and not nearly as cluttered as the apartment had been. They finally had much more space to breathe, and Butters was thrilled. 

Sharing another soft morning filled with soft kisses and breakfast, Kenny mentioned that he had somewhere he wanted them to go. Butters found it hard to deal with just how often Kenny liked to make surprises for him, but he appreciated them regardless. 

So, after their breakfast was finished and they finally felt in the mood to actually get up from the comfort of their couch, they both got ready to go. Butters would have offered to drive if he even knew where they were going, but since he didn’t, he was forced to let Kenny drive once again. Kenny did ask if they could take Butters’ car though, which although it confused him a little, he saw no reason to disagree.

One short drive later, Butters finally was beginning to realize where exactly they were going. It was made all the more obvious when they pulled into the parking lot of the animal shelter they visited a few months ago. Butters was quickly sitting up straight in his seat, turning towards the blonde. 

“Ken! What are we doing here??”

Kenny let out a chuckle. “Well, why do you think we are here, Buttercup?~”

Butters began to bounce a little in his seat as Kenny got the car parked. He already started pulling his seatbelt off. “I hope we are here to get a pet!!”

“I think you’re gonna be excited when we get in there.” 

The statement only made him even more excited, not entirely sure what he meant by it. Butters hopped himself out of the car and shut the door. As soon as Kenny was also out of the car, Butters was already grabbing onto his sleeve and beginning to pull him along towards the entrance like an excited child. 

Kenny laughed again as he allowed himself to be tugged along, shaking his head. “I’m coming, I’m coming, Leo.”

“You’re too slow!!” Butters quickly whined back at him, not slowing down for a second. Kenny was the one to lead them instead once they got inside, walking them over to the front desk where the lady at reception greeted them happily. 

"Welcome! Are you here to look around to adopt or did you have someone on hold for you to adopt?”

“Had two on hold. I called about thirty minutes ago about them.”

“Ah! I understand. Kenneth, right?”

“Yep.”

“Wonderful! I’m so glad you could make it. I’m so happy they will be going to a good home finally. My associate here will take you to them.” She motioned to the other women behind the counter with her, who nodded in greeting and stepped out towards the door next to it. 

“Right this way.”

Butters couldn’t stop the slight bounce in his steps as they were led into the back where the animals were being kept. They were brought to a separate room similar to the one they went into to play with the dog when they were here previously. To his surprise, when they entered, they were greeted by that very same dog. The dog was still as timid as it seemed to be before, but it quickly grew excited as soon as Kenny stepped into the room, nearly jumping up on him as he bounced around him. 

“Samson!! Hey, bud. It’s good to see you again.”

“He’s always so excited waiting for you to come back. It’s nice that you kept visiting him, but I am happy he finally gets to go home with you!” The employee smiled at them and Butters was quickly understanding exactly what they were doing here. 

“Wait, if we are bringing Samson home does that mean-”

Kenny quickly smiled, glancing towards him as he kept his hands busy rubbing behind Samson’s ears and under his chin. “Yep. Exactly what you think.”

“Oh! Yes, let me go grab her for you.” With that, the women turned and exited the room, leaving the two alone with Samson. Butters couldn’t stop the large smile that came over his face now.

“Bubbles???”

Kenny didn’t give him an answer, only laughing a little under his breath as he continued to pet the dog in front of him. Butters bounced eagerly on his feet, as he waited for the lady to come back. When she did, he couldn’t help but gasp loudly in excitement at sight of the fluffy gray kitty in her arms. 

“Here she is! Bubbles was already fully grown by the time she was brought in here, so we’ve had a hard time getting her adopted.. I’m so happy she will finally get her own home!” She handed him the cat carefully. 

“Oh my gosh, I missed you, Bubbles!” Butters held the cat close, bubbling into giggles as the cat purred loudly and nuzzled herself against his chin. 

“And here’s a leash for this little guy too.” She then handed a leash to Kenny. “Whenever you guys are ready, just head on back to the front desk and we’ll get you all squared away, okay?”

“Yeah, we’ll do that right now. Thanks so much.” Kenny nodded, smiling at her as he watched her leave yet again. Kenny knelt himself down in front of Samson and carefully slipped the leash around his neck. “There you go buddy. Ready to go?” Kenny stood himself back up, prompting Samson to quickly begin bouncing around again in excitement. “I’ll take that as a yes.” 

Butters was too busy being focused on the cat in his arms, petting her head while making sure he had her firmly in his arms. 

“Ready to go, Buttercup?” Kenny’s voice snapped him out of his focus, and he blinked up at him. He quickly nodded. 

“Of course! I wanna get her home!~” Butters stepped closer to him to press a small kiss to Kenny’s cheek. “Thank you so much, Kenny. I’m so happy.”

Kenny nodded, already beginning to walk now to lead them back towards the front desk. “It’s no problem. I’ve, uh, been planning this for a while actually. I just had to wait for us to get that house first.”

“Really?” Butters tilted his head a bit in surprise. “I wouldn’t have guessed.. This was a really nice surprise, Ken.”

Once they got back to the front desk, Kenny paid the small fee for both pets and before long at all they were free to head home with their new furry friends. However, they knew they needed actual pet supplies to take care of them, so they made a short trip to the pet store first. Butters opted to stay in the car with the pets while Kenny ran in to grab the minimum essentials for the two animals. 

Once Kenny returned with a few bags of things they needed along with two different bags of pet food, they made the trip home to make the two at home. Butters carefully set Bubbles down once they were inside and the door was firmly shut behind them. He watched as she nervously sniffed around and already got to work exploring her new surroundings. Samson only gave some interest in the new surroundings when his leash was removed, but he still for the most part continued to follow Kenny around endlessly. 

Butters helped Kenny open up the many packages he had gotten for the pets: cat toys, dog toys, bowls, beds for both of them, etc. Their food and water bowls were filled up and placed on the floor of the kitchen up against the wall so they were out of the way. Both pets already quickly helped themselves to the food and Butters just couldn’t wipe that smile off his face. 

He turned to Kenny now, hugging him tightly as he gave him a kiss to his lips shortly. “I love you, Ken. I’m so happy.”

“I’m happy too, Buttercup. I love you.” Kenny raised a hand to run it through Butters’ hair while pressing another soft kiss to his lips. Butters enjoyed the affection, but was already finding himself turning his attention back to the pets again. 

-

Butters grumbled quietly in his throat as he began to wake up from his sleep, blinking his eyes open to see the sunlight peaking into the room from the blinds. He felt a small yawn escape him before he found his attention falling onto the sleeping blonde next to him. Kenny was still fast asleep, and when he gave a brief glance around the bed, it seemed the other two were as well. Although they bought both the pets' beds, they didn’t seem to ever use them at night. Bubbles always had herself cuddled up against Samson, who she ended up taking a huge liking to. Samson always kept himself curled up at the end of the bed, usually on top of Kenny’s legs. 

His heart quickly began to flutter with happiness just as it did every morning at this point. It had been a few more months since they moved into the house, and it was already almost March again. So much changed in a year, and Butters wasn’t sure if he could be any more grateful than he was already. He could have never imagined he’d actually be here, in his own house, that he shared with the absolute love of his life, cuddled up in his arms. It was all too good to be true, really. 

He spent so much of his life caring so much about Kenny. He spent so much time just thinking about him and wishing things were different. When he was forced to leave for college, he couldn’t even begin to describe with words how much it tore him apart. It was clear it tore Kenny apart just as much, though.

It was almost like fate destined them to meet again. It was like fate destined Butters to be the only one to remember Kenny’s deaths. Everything all fell into place too perfectly, over and over again for them. Fate was the only explanation to him. He felt absolutely blessed to have Kenny in his life like this. Butters pressed a small kiss to Kenny’s forehead before cuddling himself up a bit tighter against him as he attempted to just go back to sleep. 

Everything was just perfect, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. 

* * *

Thank you guys so much for reading my fic! I had so much fun writing this and it has really unlocked my love for writing! ;w; <3 Thank you sm for all the support and I hope those of you who are interested will continue supporting my other upcoming works as well!

I already have another bunny fic somewhat planned out that I wanna start writing soon! So be on the lookout for that if you’re interested!! <3 


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